Administration route of progesterone in combined HRT as a predictor of breast cancer risk in menopausal women: a review
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Administration route of progesterone in combined HRT as a predictor of breast cancer risk in menopausal women: a review

Elizabeth Kate Woodward Practice nurse, Hugglescote Surgery, Hugglescote, England
Lesley Halliday Associate professor of health education, School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To enhance your understanding of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the context of the menopause

  • To read about the influence of the administration route of progesterone in combined HRT on the risk of breast cancer in menopausal women

  • To recognise the need for direct clinical comparative studies to determine which combined HRT regimen has the lowest risk of breast cancer and to inform clinical recommendations

This literature review explores the breast cancer risk associated with combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which delivers oestrogen and progesterone. An increase in breast cancer risk was reported with all three routes of administration of progesterone, but the review also highlighted a difference in risk levels according to administration routes. It is suggested that future research controls for this variable when investigating the link between breast cancer risk and combined HRT. Making recommendations for which administration route of progesterone is associated with the lowest risk of breast cancer would be premature and inappropriate at this stage. There is a need for direct clinical comparisons to accurately and reliably create a hierarchy of administration routes and inform risk balancing and decision-making in menopause care and HRT prescribing.

Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2025.e1845

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

lesley.halliday@nottingham.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Woodward EK, Halliday L (2025) Administration route of progesterone in combined HRT as a predictor of breast cancer risk in menopausal women: a review. Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2025.e1845

Published online: 22 January 2025

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more