In Other Journals

Scandinavian researchers have pulled the plug on their own trial, HABITS (hormonal replacement therapy after breast cancer — is it safe?).1 An interim safety analysis found that breast cancer survivors allocated to receive 2 years of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal symptoms were experiencing an "unacceptably high risk" of breast cancer compared with those allocated to best symptomatic treatment without hormones (26/174 v 7/171; relative hazard 3.5). Any participants currently receiving HRT were advised to discontinue. An accompanying commentary said that the HABITS finding was consistent with those from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial.2