Updates

Another recent publication from the estrogen + progestin (E + P) arm of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial brings updated data on breast cancer [1]. The reason for the new paper lies in an extended, open follow-up period. The basic intervention time for the clinical trial was 5.6 years (standard deviation (SD) 1.3 years)… Read More

De and colleagues recently reported on a retrospective study to evaluate use of hormone therapy (HT) and breast cancer incidence among Canadian women from 2001 to 2006 [1]. Data for reported HT use from 1996 to 2006 among approximately 1200 women 50–69 years of age were obtained from the National Health Population Survey, confirmed by… Read More

There is a great interest in examining the evidence for an interaction of FRAX® probabilities with drug efficacy. A recent article from Kanis and colleagues [1] has evaluated the distribution of fracture risk assessed at baseline using the FRAX tool in the MORE study and has determined the efficacy of raloxifene as a function of… Read More

The role of estrogens in lung cancer remains elusive. Estrogens stimulate growth in both normal and tumoral lung epithelial cells. Aromatase is active in normal lung tissue and lung cancer cells. Both isoforms of estradiol receptor (ER), alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ), have been detected in lung cancer tissue and normal lung cells. The results… Read More

Many of us take it as a given that mammography reduces mortality from breast cancer. In September, 2010, Kalager and colleagues reported that, with the widespread onset of mammographic screening, there has been a calculable reduction in breast cancer mortality after diagnosis in Norway [1]. This important study shows that the reduction in mortality is… Read More

Coffee and tea are widely consumed beverages in the world and their relationship with health has therefore been extensively studied, particularly for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We recently reported a prospective cohort study of 37,514 Dutch men and women, in which we investigated the relationship of coffee and tea consumption with coronary heart disease (CHD) and… Read More

The study by Lena Johansson and colleagues recently published in [i]Brain[/i] [1] was based on data from a population cohort, as a part of the Prospective Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, Sweden. The objective was to analyze the relationship between psychological stress and the development of dementia in late life. The study followed 1415… Read More

In 2009, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) revised its guidelines concerning analog screening mammography [1]. Recently, Laurie Margolies has written a comprehensive critique of the USPSTF recommendation [2]. Despite the breast cancer death rate falling by 30% since 1990 and mammography receiving the major share of the credit for the decrease, the USPSTF… Read More

In a [i]post hoc[/i] analysis, an increased risk of nephrolithiasis (renal stones) has been reported amongst users of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) randomized, controlled trial [1]. A total of 10,739 postmenopausal women were included in the estrogen-alone vs. placebo trial (average follow-up 7.1 years), whereas 16,608 women composed the… Read More

A recent prospective, randomized, controlled follow-up study from Slovenia was started on February 15, 2003 and terminated on February 28, 2005 [1]. The participants answered one questionnaire before starting hormone therapy (HT) and another during follow-up visits after the 3rd, 6th, 12th, and 24th months. The study group ([i]n[/i] = 64) attended oral presentations on… Read More