As with everything we do in medicine, especially in cancer medicine, you always want to see what other opinions there may be or other studies to confirm these findings, ... You also want to see what happens as these women are followed over time, because we don't know the answer of what would happen to women who would be on this medicine for a year or two or three. |
Even though there's a discrepancy which is classified as an error, most of the time no meaningful harm came to that patient, ... It doesn't mean there weren't some errors, but it's not as bad news for the patient as it might appear to be in terms of numbers. So, I would not have people become panicked. |
Hot flashes are a serious problem; this type of symptom can be disabling, ... The study provides another alternative for women with breast cancer to consider for controlling symptoms. |
I suspect that there will be a significant interest in getting better tests into the mainstream. |
If you must take hormone replacement, you need to have a discussion with your doctor about the benefits and risks, knowing that one risk you can take off the table is breast cancer. |
The outcome of the study is not as clear-cut as we might have hoped for. It will take some time for experts to review the data to determine which of the two treatments is preferable. |
There are still risks associated with hormone replacement therapy. |
This may seem like common sense to most folks, but there's really been no literature or science where researchers tried to quantify and verify the effect. |
What this study does in a detailed way, with the advantage of outstanding long-term follow-up and health records, is clearly demonstrate the impact of smoking on the duration of life. |