Hormone replacement tied to lower colon cancer risk

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can carry serious health risks, but a new study adds to evidence that menopausal women who use the hormones may have lower odds of developing colon cancer.

The study, which followed nearly 57,000 California teachers, found that women who were using HRT at the outset were 36 percent less likely to develop colon cancer over the next decade than those who had never used HRT.

Of the 34,433 HRT users, 193 were diagnosed with colon cancer during the study period; that compared with 151 cases among the 13,778 women who had never used hormone replacement.