The risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma is not associated with use of hormone replacement therapy

10-04-2006

"Use of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been hypothesized to be associated with a reduced risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), but the epidemiologic evidence is conflicting. To examine the risk of NHL in HRT users aged 40 and older, we conducted a cohort study in the County of North Jutland, Denmark (population 0.5 million) using data from population-based health registries for the period 1989-2002," reported researchers at Aarhus University Hospital in Aalborg.

M. Norgaard and colleagues explained, "We computed age-standardized NHL incidence rates and used Cox regression analysis to compute the relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of NHL among HRT users compared with non-users, adjusting for age and calendar period. The number of prescriptions redeemed (1, 2-4, 5-9, 10-19, or 20 or more prescriptions) was used as a proxy for duration of HRT."

"We identified 40 NHL cases among HRT users during 179,838 person-years of follow-up and 310 NHL cases among non-users during 1,247,302 person-years of follow-up," reported the authors. "The age-standardized incidence rates of NHL were 25.7 per 100,000 among HRT users and 24.2 per 100,000 among non-users, yielding an adjusted RR of 0.99 (95% CI: 0.71-1.39)."

The investigators concluded, "Our data did not support an association between HRT use and risk of NHL."

Norgaard and colleagues published their study in British Journal of Cancer (Use of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a Danish Population-based Cohort Study. Br J Cancer, 2006;94(9):1339-1341).

For additional information, contact M. Norgaard, Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Sdr. Skowej 15, Postbox 365, DK-9100 Aalborg, Denmark. uxmeno@aas.nja.dk.

This article was prepared by Clinical Oncology Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Clinical Oncology Week via NewsRx.com.