Use of menopausal hormone therapy and ovarian cancer risk in a French cohort study

In a new study, researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partner institutions assess the associations between use of menopausal hormone therapy and risk of ovarian cancer in a cohort of postmenopausal women in France. The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In the E3N cohort of more than 75 000 postmenopausal women, the researchers found no statistically significant association between the use of estrogen-only menopausal hormone therapy and the risk of ovarian cancer. They did find a statistically significant higher risk associated with current or recent use of estrogens combined with progesterone or dydrogesterone. They also found a borderline significant lower risk associated with the use of estrogens combined with other progestagens, compared with women who had never used these.

The findings that different types of menopausal hormone therapy have different impacts on the risk of ovarian cancer are consistent with previous observations for risk of breast cancer and risk of endometrial cancer, and emphasize the importance of considering the type of progestagen when analysing the risks versus the benefits of treatment. Future epidemiological studies should carefully and accurately consider therapies containing progestagens other than progesterone or dydrogesterone, which may have a protective role against ovarian tumour development.

Fournier A, Cairat M, Severi G, Gunter MJ, Rinaldi S, Dossus L.
Use of menopausal hormone therapy and ovarian cancer risk in a French cohort study
J Natl Cancer Inst, Published online 21 February 2023;
https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djad035

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Visit the E3N cohort website