MEDICATIONS: LATEST HRT EVIDENCE REVIEWS SUPPORT HALTED CLINICAL TRIAL

September 2002 — New systematic evidence reviews of a wide spectrum of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) research support the findings of the halted clinical trial in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). The reviews were conducted for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) as background for new recommendations on HRT use for clinicians and patients expected this fall.

Two reviews found that harms could exceed benefits for women taking HRT for five years or longer to prevent chronic conditions. The reviews, one in the August 20 Annals of Internal Medicine and the other in the August 21 Journal of the American Medical Association, were not able to determine whether the harms or benefits depended on type of hormones used. Although one study of estrogen and progestin in the WHI was stopped after five years because harms exceeded benefits, a second study of estrogen alone for women who have had a hysterectomy is continuing because the balance of benefits and harms is not yet clear.