Highlights from Recent European Journal for Breast Health on Lower Risk for Breast Cancer with Hormone Pellets

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Highlights from Recent European Journal for Breast Health on Lower Risk for Breast Cancer with Hormone Pellets

Objective: Testosterone (T) therapy has been shown to be breast protective in both pre- and post-menopausal patients. Additionally, estradiol (E) does not cause breast cancer (BC) in the majority of the world’s literatures. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of invasive BC (IBC) in pre- and postmenopausal women treated with T therapy and T in combination with E (T/E).

Materials and Methods: Since January 2010, a total of 2,377 pre- and post-menopausal women were treated with T or T/E implants. IBC rates were reported based on newly diagnosed IBC cases in the total study. Total cases divided by the total sample size and years in study was expressed as an incidence per 100,000 person-years (P-Ys). The BC incidence was compared with age-specific Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) incidence rates.

Results: As of October 2020, 14 cases diagnosed with IBC have been found in 9,746 P-Y of follow up for an incidence of 144 cases per 100,000 P-Y, substantially less than the age-specific SEER incidence rates (223/100,000), placebo arm of Women’s Health Initiative Study (330/100,000), and never users of hormone therapy from the Million Women Study (312/100,000).

Conclusion: T and/or T/E pellet implants significantly reduced the incidence of BC in pre- and post-menopausal women. The addition of E did not increase the incidence over using T alone. This is the second multi-year long-term study demonstrating the benefits of T therapy in reducing the incidenceof IBC.

Key Points

• In the United States, 240,000 women will develop breast cancer (BC) annually and 40,000 will die from the disease.

• Testosterone hormone optimization has been shown to reduce the incidence of invasive breast cancer in women.

• This study (The Testosterone Therapy and Breast Cancer Incidence Study) is the largest long-term study to further demonstrate this benefit and shows a reduced incidence of IBC in women taking testosterone and estradiol sub-cutaneous hormone pellet therapy