The therapy can reduce symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Some studies have suggested it reduces the risk of heart disease. Millions of other women use birth control pills. The amount of estrogen in those pills has dropped dramatically in recent years. The advisory panel acted after looking at studies showing that estrogen is associated with an increase in endometrial cancer and, to a lesser extent, breast cancer.
Doctors already know about the cancer link.
But panel member Sheila H. Zahm of the National Cancer Institute noted that NCI researchers in a paper published in January had found a slight increase in breast cancer in women treated with the estrogen-progestin combination. Pa. The committee advises the NTP, a branch of the National Institutes of Health that every two years updates the federal list of proven and suspected cancer-causing substances. The next update is scheduled early in 2002. Also on Friday, the panel voted unanimously to recommend adding wood dust to the cancer list. It has been associated with cancer of the nose and sinuses in workers in furniture factories and cabinetmaking shops.