Million Women Study

Million Women Study

A national study involving more than one million UK women aged 50 and over, which is a collaboration between Cancer Research UK and the NHS, partly funded by the Medical Research Council and Health and Safety Executive (UK Government). While the primary focus is on the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use, the large size of the study allows other questions to be asked, including how various reproductive and lifestyle factors affect older women’s health. The MWS is also assessing how diet, exercise, employment patterns, oral contraceptive use, childbirth and breastfeeding, and family history of illness impact on cancer and to other conditions such as fractures, gallbladder disease and cardiovascular disease.
Conclusion
For every 10,000 women on oestrogen for 10 years, there will be 5 extra breast cancers, and 19 extra cancers in women receiving combined HRT.