A panel of scientific advisers says oestrogen should be placed on the US list of cancer-causing substances, even though it remains a good treatment for many women. Another type of post-menopausal oestrogen, conjugated estrogens, already is on the federal carcinogen list.
Doctors already know about the cancer link.
Physicians never discuss any of these risks when they are prescribing hormone therapy. They only discuss benefits. Listing might force it on the table,' said Michelle Medinsky, a toxicologist from Durham, North Carolina, before the vote. The committee of scientists 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 NTP typically follows its advisers' recommendations, but an officially updated carcinogen list isn't expected until 2002.