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" Breast cancer rates are falling among women in their 50s - a trend that has been linked to the recent drop in women using hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The discovery was made by Cancer Research UK, which found that breast cancer rates among 50 to 54-year-olds fell by nine per cent between 1999 and 2005, while rates among 55 to 59-year-olds have fallen by around five per cent. During that time, the number of women using HRT has fallen from between 35 and 40 per cent of 50 to 59-year-olds in 2000 to just 15 to 20 per cent in 2006. This fall is almost certainly due to two studies linking HRT with an increased risk of breast cancer. Lead researcher Professor Max Parkin, a Cancer Research UK statistician based at Queen Mary College, University of London, commented: &amp;#039;We cannot be absolutely sure that the drop in both breast cancer rates and breast cancer risk is the direct result of women giving up HRT. &amp;#039;But the parallel is striking and it will be interesting to see if this decline continues over the next few years.&amp;#039; The findings are published in the European Journal of Cancer and follow a recent study which found that women&amp;#039;s risk of breast cancer drops rapidly after they stop using HRT. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a17756/fall-in-breast-cancer-rates-linked-to-decline-in-hrt-use/>