Trans women at higher risk for breast cancer
LONDON — Transgender women increase their risk of getting breast cancer by taking hormones, research suggests according to a Daily Mail (U.K.) article.
People assigned a male gender at birth but who take estrogen to transition are more likely to get breast cancer than men. Meanwhile, transgender men lower their risk of breast cancer by taking testosterone, a study has revealed.
The research follows previous studies that have shown that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk of breast cancer in menopausal women, the Daily Mail reports.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, suggested hormone treatment could similarly increase risk of breast cancer among transgender women.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the U.K., with about 55,000 women and 400 men diagnosed each year, the Daily Mail reports.
Scientists at the University Medical Centre in Amsterdam investigated rates of breast cancer in nearly 3,500 transgender people receiving hormone treatment compared with the general Dutch population.
Of the 2,260 transgender women they looked at, 15 were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, a higher rate than the general male population.
In 1,229 transgender men, there were four cases of invasive breast cancer, a lower rate than among the general female population, the Daily Mail reports.
Published at Sun, 19 May 2019 02:30:57 +0000