Women who take hormone therapy for "just a few years" face a significantly increased risk of developing cancer of the ovaries, researchers warn today.
For every 1,700 women who take the treatment for five years after the age of 50 one will die from ovarian cancer, according to the new analysis.
UK statistics expert Professor Richard Peto set out to draw together the findings of some 52 studies of the issue.
Long-term use of HRT was largely discredited by several large studies which identified a range of side-effects.
But the researchers say there are still six million women in the UK and USA using the therapy.
Writing in The Lancet, Professor Peto, of Oxford University, UK, says the risk is not affected by the type of HRT used or factors such as having had a hysterectomy, weight or family history of cancer.
Fellow researcher Professor Dame Valerie Beral said: “The definite risk of ovarian cancer even with less than five years of HRT is directly relevant to today’s patterns of use — with most women now taking HRT for only a few years—and has implications for current efforts to revise UK and worldwide guidelines.”
The UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency said it would be reconsidering its current advice in the light of the findings.
But Dr Sarah Branch, from the agency, said: “Our advice has always been that the lowest effective dose of HRT should be used for the shortest possible time."
Menopausal hormone use and ovarian cancer risk: individual participant meta-analysis of 52 epidemiological studies. Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer* Published Online February 13, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61687-1 [abstract]
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