The female hormone estrogen may hold important clues for scientists working on new therapies for colon cancer, a study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers suggests.
The herbal supplement black cohosh does not relieve hot flashes among women going through menopause. In this double-blinded randomized controlled trial of 351 women, researchers found no significant difference between the numbers of hot flashes in women taking various forms of black cohosh compared to women taking a placebo. Hormone therapy, on the other hand, significantly reduced the frequency of hot flashes.
Data from the HALT study, Herbal Alternatives for Menopause, found that black cohosh, in three formulations, was no better than placebo in reducing symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats during menopause.
Based on results recently presented at the 2006 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers speculate that a sudden decrease in the incidence of breast cancer in 2003 may be due to a reduction in the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy.
Oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices (IUD) appear to provide long-term protection against endometrial cancer, researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer.
Researchers studying chimpanzee mating preferences have found that although male chimpanzees prefer some females over others, they prefer older, not younger, females as mates. The findings uncover a stark contrast between chimpanzee behavior and that of humans, their primate cousins.
Research from the University of Michigan Health System suggests that hormone therapy might help women retain certain memory functions. In a study in the new issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, they report that a group of postmenopausal women showed more brain activity during a visual memory test than did women who were not taking the hormone therapy.
Normal aging of breast tissue lessens breast cancer risk, reports a new study by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center researchers published in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Younger women who eat more red meat may be at higher risk of a certain kind of breast cancer, perhaps because of hormonal residues in beef cattle and other factors, according to a published study.
Younger women with ovarian cancer have better survival rates than older patients, even if they have surgery to conserve their fertility, added family history of the illness is the most important risk factor and it is influenced by hormones.