Recommendations regarding estrogen replacement therapy after treatment of endometrial cancer.

A history of endometrial cancer has long been considered a contraindication to estrogen replacement therapy. Yet women with such a history, like other women when postmenopausal, often suffer vasomotor symptoms that could easily be relieved with estrogen. In fact there is no good evidence that estrogen significantly increases the risk of recurrence after treatment for endometrial cancer. Some studies now suggest that estrogen plus a progestin may actually decrease the risk of cancer recurrence in these patients. The benefits of estrogen in preventing osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women is substantial.