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Incidence of malignancy in hormone therapy users with indeterminate calcifications on mammogram
Denise M Lochner1, Katherine L Brubaker
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
Objective:
This was a pilot study to determine whether menopausal hormone therapy users have a higher incidence of indeterminate calcifications on screening mammogram and a higher rate of associated malignancy than nonusers.
Study Design:
A retrospective chart review of routine screening mammograms with indeterminate calcifications was conducted to determine the malignancy rate overall and in hormone therapy users and nonusers. A control group of normal screening mammograms was used to determine whether hormone therapy use was representative of the population that undergo screening mammograms and to compare the malignancy rates.
Results:
The rates of hormone therapy use in the study and control groups were similar. The overall malignancy rate was 24.7%; no difference existed between users and nonusers. Comparing estrogen only with estrogen-progestin users demonstrated a malignancy rate of 5.8% and 17.6%, respectively (odds ratio 2.28).
Conclusions:
Hormone therapy users with indeterminate calcifications on screening mammograms are not at an increased risk of malignancy than nonusers. Estrogen-progestin users may be at an increased risk over estrogen-only users.
