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Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Center, Toronto, ON, Canada.
J Natl Cancer Inst 2008;100:1361–7.
Editor’s note: Women who carry a BRCA1 mutation face a lifetime risk of breast cancer of 60–80%, but the risk can be substantially reduced by surgical oophorectomy performed before menopause. As the observed reduction in risk is believed to be due to the withdrawal of ovarian hormones, concern has been raised that administration of exogenous hormones in the form of hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) – given to help alleviate the symptoms associated with menopause – may increase the risk of breast cancer in women undergoing surgical oophorectomy. The present authors carried out a case–control study of postmenopausal BRCA1 mutation carriers in order to examine whether or not the use of HRT following surgical or natural menopause is associated with subsequent risk of breast cancer.