I am challenging the information found on Canadian Cancer Society and Canada’s government websites.

Here is a summary of what I found on those pages:

	Canadian Cancer Society (no date found on the webpage!)
	Combined HRT (Estrogen and Progesterone)	Estrogen only
Breast cancer	Known cause of breast cancer	May increase risk
Ovarian cancer	Increased risk, but risk is low	Increased risk, but risk is low
Uterine cancer		Increases risk
Colorectal cancer	Some studies show that users might have a lower risk, while other studies do not	Some studies show that users might have a lower risk, while other studies do not
Webpage	https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/reduce-your-risk/understand-hormones/all-about-hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt

The Canadian Cancer Society’s webpage has a list of risks for HRT, yet the recommendation is: “Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective way to reduce menopausal symptoms and improve quality of life for people experiencing menopause. Some studies show that HRT may increase your risk of breast and ovarian cancer while other studies show no increased risk. If you are thinking about taking HRT, the Canadian Cancer Society recommends that you talk to your healthcare provider about how HRT can relieve menopausal symptoms and about your individual risks. Low-dose HRT may slightly increase your risk of breast and ovarian cancer, but the risk can be kept low by using it for as short a time as possible.” I find Canadian Cancer Society are contradicting themselves on this webpage and it sounds more like a legal – “we covered our back” – type of document to me. No coherence, no scientific sense.

	Canada’s government website (original Jan 2003, updated 2004) their data is based on the WHI trial¹
	Combined HRT (Estrogen and Progesterone)	Estrogen only
Breast cancer	Increased risk of invasive breast cancer	Did not increase risk
Ovarian cancer	No information	No information
Uterine cancer	No information	No information
Colorectal cancer	Decreased risk
Coronary heart disease	Increased risk	Did not increase or decrease risk
Stroke	Increased risk	Increased risk
Blood cloths	Increased risk (lungs and legs)
Osteoporosis	Decreased risk of hip fractures	Decreased risk of hip fractures
Cognitive decline		Increased risk of probable dementia and mild cognitive impairment
Webpage	https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/healthy-living/your-health/medical-information/benefits-risks-hormone-replacement-therapy-estrogen-without-progestin.html

Moving on to Canada’s government website, I have a few objections here as well: firstly, they base the information presented there on a study done 20 years ago. And that page on their website hasn’t been updated since!!!   WHI trail¹: It involved 27,347 postmenopausal women ages 50-79 who were recruited during a 5-year period (1993-1998). The CEE (conjugated equine estrogens) ended in 2004 – that is 20 years ago!!!, and the CEE + MPA (medroxyprogesterone acetate) ended in 2002 – 22 years ago. Secondly, the subjects of this study are divided by age groups (50-54, 55-59, 60-69, 70-79). The highest participation by percentages was for women aged 60-69, and in my opinion, that is the wrong age group to focus on. And the cherry on the top that is actually a yellow banner at the top of the webpage, says: ” We have archived this page and will not be updating it. You can use it for research or reference”. I think it does need some updating or at least staying open to new research – wouldn’t that be smart?

Dear medical world, time has come to move on from that old study, given that a drop in the percentage of women using HRT after the publication of its results, here we are, more than 20 years later, with no decrease in the number of breast cancers. It is time for new research, different approaches, open and courageous minds to come up with the best solutions for all the women out there. We deserve it!

If you want a deeper look into WHI study:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3963523/

Bibliography

1. Manson JE, Chlebowski RT, Stefanick ML, Aragaki AK, Rossouw JE, Prentice RL, Anderson G, Howard BV, Thomson CA, LaCroix AZ, Wactawski-Wende J, Jackson RD, Limacher M, Margolis KL, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Beresford SA, Cauley JA, Eaton CB, Gass M, Hsia J, Johnson KC, Kooperberg C, Kuller LH, Lewis CE, Liu S, Martin LW, Ockene JK, O’Sullivan MJ, Powell LH, Simon MS, Van Horn L, Vitolins MZ, Wallace RB. Menopausal hormone therapy and health outcomes during the intervention and extended poststopping phases of the Women’s Health Initiative randomized trials. JAMA. 2013 Oct 2;310(13):1353-68. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.278040. PMID: 24084921; PMCID: PMC3963523.