A short course of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) should not be contraindicated for BRCA1 mutation carriers who have undergone menopause and who have no personal history of cancer, according to a study of 432 women with an inherited BRCA1 mutation and no personal history of breast or ovarian cancer and a matched set of 432 controls. Researchers found:

• Mean duration of HRT use after menopause was 4.3 years among the women with a BRCA1 mutation and 4.4 years among controls.

• Adjusted odds ratio for breast cancer in all women who ever used HRT vs those who never used HRT was 0.80.

• Findings did not differ by type of menopause (natural or surgical), by recency of use, by duration of use, and by formulation type.

Citation: Kotsopoulos J, Huzarski T, Gronwald J, et al. Hormone replacement therapy after menopause and risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 mutation carriers: a case–control study. [Published online ahead of print January 16, 2016]. Breast Cancer Res Treat. doi: 10.1007/s10549-016-3685-3.