[Estrogen therapy in carcinoma of the breast (author's transl)]

The controvery about the increase of carcinoma of the endometrium following estrogen therapy led to an investigation of the correlation between estrogen and cancer of the breast because of the close link between carcinoma of the endometrium and carcinoma of the breast. In the statistical matched pair comparison 120 cases of carcinoma of the breast were compared with thoroughly selected controls. To each patient with carcinoma of the breast a control person with essentially the same risk factors was assigned. It was found that: 1) Estrogen therapy in general does not lead to an increased risk for carcinoma of the breast. 2) The separate evaluation of different estrogen preparations showed no increase of the risk. 3) The risk was not increased by prolonged treatment with estrogen. 4) The number of patients taking conjugated estrogens was higher in the control group than in the carcinoma group. 5) The coincidence of estrogen treatment with the other risk factors of nulligravity, hypertension and obesity did not result in an increased risk for carcinoma of the breast.