A recent study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a heavyweight medical journal in gastroenterology, found that women with previous menopause-related hormone therapy had an approximately 50% lower risk of liver cancer and an increased survival time for those who developed liver cancer.
What is menopause-related hormone therapy?
What is menopause-related hormone therapy?
Menopause related hormonetherapy (MHT) is the individualized administration of low doses of estrogen and/or progestin medications to women with declining ovarian function.
Estrogen therapy (ET) alone is used for those without a uterus, while in those with a uterus, estrogen supplementation with progestogen is called estrogen progestogen therapy (EPT).
The term estrogen replacement therapy is usually used in research to include both of these conditions, which are also known as menopause-related hormone therapy.
Conjectures arising from differences in prevalence between men and women
More than 85% to 90% of primary liver cancers are hepatocellular carcinomas, and most of what we commonly refer to as hepatocellular carcinoma is also hepatocellular carcinoma.
Data show that the prevalence and mortality rates of liver cancer are higher in men than in women. Does the gender difference in liver cancer incidence and mortality mean that sex hormones may have an important impact on the incidence and prognosis of liver cancer?
Effectiveness of menopause-related hormone therapy against liver cancer
The latest study on the relationship between menopause-related hormone therapy and the risk of developing liver cancer was conducted by Manal et al. at the Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, USA.
The study used a case-control study approach to include 234 women with liver cancer seen at the Anderson Cancer Center between January 2004 and May 2015, and 282 healthy women who served as controls to whom a questionnaire was administered.
The study findings suggest that:
- Women who had previous menopause-related hormone therapy had an approximately 50% lower risk of developing liver cancer;
- The longer the duration of estrogen replacement therapy, the later the age at which liver cancer develops;
- The longer the duration of estrogen replacement therapy, the later the age at which liver cancer develops;
- Women with liver cancer who have had prior estrogen replacement therapy have prolonged survival.
This study is the first to examine the relationship between menopause-related hormone therapy and survival in patients with liver cancer.
In 2003, another study included 218 female patients with liver cancer in four large hospitals in Taiwan, China, from August 1998 to June 2001, and 729 healthy women who served as controls for the questionnaire. The findings also suggest that menopause-related hormone therapy can reduce the risk of liver cancer .
These two studies suggest that treatment with menopause-related hormones can reduce the risk of liver cancer. However, because these studies used questionnaires rather than hospital prescriptions and had small sample sizes, the results may be inaccurate.
In 2015, Katherine et al. at the National Cancer Institute conducted a nested case-control study that included 339 patients with liver cancer and 1318 healthy individuals who were eligible in the UK Clinical Research Data Link from 1988 to 2011.
A statistical analysis showed a significantly lower risk of liver cancer in patients treated with menopause-related hormones, particularly in those treated with estrogen alone. The large sample size of this study and the fact that the data from medical records going back an average of more than 12 years from the time a case was diagnosed with liver cancer allows for better documentation of the use of juejing-related hormone therapy.
Summary
In summary, several studies have found that menopause-related hormone therapy in women reduces the risk of developing liver cancer and prolongs survival in patients with liver cancer. However, prospective studies or meta-studies are still needed to support this conclusion.