Hormone Therapy Linked to Increased Risk of Lung Cancer Death

New research shows that women who use hormone therapy to treat the effects of menopause have an increased risk of dying from lung cancer. The lead author of the study presented the research at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Women who use hormone therapy have been cautioned not to smoke. In 2002, a hormone therapy study by the Women’s Health Initiative was stopped after it was found that hormone therapy increased women’s risk of getting breast cancer. As a result of that study, the use of hormone therapy dramatically decreased. Data from that Women’s Health Initiative study was used in the recent study of hormone therapy and lung cancer. Results of the study include 67 lung cancer deaths among hormone therapy users and 39 lung cancer deaths among women who took the placebo. The Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society stated that it was a meaningful difference in deaths.