Estrogen and Breast Cancer: The Lurking Question The Medical Establishment Can't Handle
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 at 10:25PM 
I’ve been following the news reports about a sharp decline in breast cancer rates that seem to coincide with reduced usage of the Wyeth estrogen drug, Prempro.
That is certainly encouraging news, though the likelihood that a major prescription drug substantially increases cancer risk shouldn’t be a surprise.
I’ve been wondering about a related matter: What, if any, is the role of the so-called bioidentical hormones made from soy and other plant materials?
Last April, I wrote a BusinessWeek.com column about Wyeth’s attack against pharmacists and others making bioidentical hormones. Wyeth claimed the natural hormones were potentially dangerous to women because they weren’t overseen as closely as Wyeth’s Prempro by the federal Food and Drug Administration. But, of course, Wyeth was obviously concerned that the bioidentical hormones’ popularity was cutting into sales of Prempro.
What turned my head while doing research for the column was reading hundreds of letters women wrote to the FDA about how their lives had been improved by bioidentical hormones. Many of the women said they had previously taken Prempro, with disastrous results.
So my question when news of the decline in breast cancer rates came out was this: Do bioidentical hormones present the same risks for women that Prempro does? Today a New York Times article raises just that question—in a provocative way, for the Times—as part of an interview with a prominent researcher specializing in estrogen and breast cancer. The interviewer: “Some people suggest that the real problem was that the hormones women were taking were artificial or were given in artificial ways. Prempro, for example, gets its estrogen from pregnant mares. Some say other hormone preparations, for example, so-called bioidentical hormones, would be safe. Do you agree?”
The researcher answers the question only by inference. “We’ve been talking about women’s ovaries producing estrogen and progesterone. When a woman enters menopause, hormone levels drop dramatically. The longer you bathe a woman’s breast in these hormones, the more likely she will have cancer…And that is with natural hormones, the ones in your body.”
My guess is the researcher hasn’t spent any time or energy examining bioidentical hormones, but didn’t want to say so. Instead, he applied his theory to an area he hadn’t researched.
I actually had a discussion a week ago about this subject with a friend who is a physician, and his response was similar to the scientist interviewed by the Times. Except he added another caveat: The reason we have the FDA is to make sure professionals monitor the drugs people take. When people have the freedom to take things like bioidentical hormones on their own, they are putting themelves in danger.
Needless to say, we had a lengthy discussion. My feeling is people should have the freedom to take whatever supplements or plant-based materials they want, and that it’s up to them to evaluate the risks. Based on the letters I read from women taking bioidentical hormones, many are even willing to increase their risk of getting breast cancer sometime in the future so as to live a much more comfortable life today.
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Reader Comments (2)
Another great topic! As an herbalist, I've followed this issue closely. I apprenticed with Susun Weed 20 years ago, and she was certain then that the hormonal treatment was a massive experiment on women that was ill advised. She is the author of a book on alternatives and a diferent view of menopause: "Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way".
People should be able to use the herbs they want, except that even here the choices are being driven by the manufacturers and a lot of information that is just not true. Based on sales, Black Cohosh is the number one "menopausal herb". A wonderful herb that has many benefits - but also some serious side effects for a small number of women. There are many more common, cheap, unpromoted herbs that can provide similar benefits -- with a much safer profile. How do we let women know about them when it is a market driven business?
Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) has turned out to be the most common herb that I use both personally as well as suggested to clients. A very low dose (ten drops tincture a day) has resolved most of the problems my clients have had with menopause - hot flashes, sleep trouble, irregular periods, mood swings, and irregular heartbeats are just some of the concerns it may help with. Side effects are almost unheard of.
If that doesn't help, only then do we start using herbs that might be have slightly greater risks involved.
And how aware is the average consumer of the positive effect on hormones of increasing dark green leafy vegetables in the diet?
Why isn't exercise being promoted as a possible solution to menopausal related sleep disturbances?
I put bio idenitical hormones in the "last resort" category. Sure, they are often effective, but there are many things to try first that are more gentle, far cheaper,and that have been in use for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years.
We need to continue to fundamentally shift the kind of education and information that people can access about health and healing. The use of health professionals combined with conumer awareness and knowledge is a potent remedy. The promotion of drugs and herbs and supplements by the people who directly profit from them should be held to higher ethical standards. And in addition to the work of the NIH the voice for alternatives needs a platform and a way of connecting to people who need good information as they are surrounded by the overwhelming information on the internet, and commercials and ads.The commercialization of health care has a disasterous effect on health education.
The bottom line - menopause is a natural process, not a disease that needs treatment. And with baby boomers well into the process, we have an unprecedented number of women experiencing it. With hundreds of herbs to choose from, simple lifestyle changes that have other health benefits, dietary solutions that also protect us from cancer and heart disease, why are we still focusing on drugs and just one or two herbs? We may have stopped this great experiment of using untested hormonal therapies but women are still being shortchanged and purposely misdirected. We didn't get the lesson.
I was disturbed by the NY Times, Gina Kolata articles. I think they were completely one-sided and the research she referes to is far from complete. Even the scientists will agree. When it comes to hormones, especially bioidenticals, there aren't enough long term studies available to determine the effects. In the meantime, I don't think women need to have any more scares, especially after the WHI 2002 study.
On my blog which targets boomers, I talk a lot about the health issues that face our generation. I believe loss of hormones can do a lot of harm to our overall health. Relieving menopause and andropause sysmptoms is only one piece of the puzzle. We have to consider adjusting many things in our daily lifestyle in order to stay healthy and vital.
Thanks for your work and best wishes for a happy & a healthy New Year.
Linda Franklin