Progesterone Link

I was fortunate to acquire this information during my research into the effects of progesterone and breast cancer. I am concerned that this information is not yet available to every woman who is facing surgery for breast cancer. Other studies have shown the same results several years ago, but still no significant importance to this information has been disseminated to the public at large.

I believe every woman who is facing surgery for breast cancer whether pre-menopausal or post-menopausal should have access to this information. If by only having normal levels of progesterone produced by the body during surgery can increase the survival rate by 30% after 10 years for pre-menopausal women, it stands to reason that by supplementing with progesterone for all women with breast cancer would increase their survival rates for life.

Information below was released by the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and published in CANCER, 15 November 1999.

Timing of surgery could ‘dramatically’ improve survival rates for pre-menopausal breast cancer patients.

Pre-menopausal women who do not have surgery for breast cancer during the first part of their menstrual cycle ( when oestrogen is dominant ) have a significantly improved chance of survival, a new study by Imperial Cancer Research Fund has found.

The research shows that women having breast tumours removed during the follicular phase of their cycle ( days 3-12 when oestrogen is dominant) have a 10-year survival rate of only 45%, compared to a 10 year survival rate of 75% for women having surgery during other phases of their cycle ( the luteal phase, when progesterone is dominant ).

Professor Ian Fentiman, head of the research team at Imperial Cancer Research Fund’s Breast Unit at Guys Hospital, London said:

This work shows that timing of surgery within the menstrual cycle has a significant effect on the 10-year survival rates of pre-menopausal women with breast cancer. As surgery during the 10 or so days before ovulation is linked to poorer survival, this knowledge could be used to help improve the prognosis for women with operable breast cancer.

The researchers also discovered that survival prognosis following surgery during the luteal phase ( when progesterone is produced ) is affected by the hormone status of the tumour. Women with oestrogen receptor ( ER ) positive tumours had a 10-year survival rate of 80% compared to 60% for ER negative patients. For women with progesterone Receptor ( PR ) positive tumours, the 10-year survival rate was 88%, but 56% for those with PR negative tumours.

Interestingly, when surgery took place during the follicular phase, the survival prognosis did not vary according to tumour receptor status. The 10-year survival rate for those with either positive or negative ER status was 42% and for either positive or negative PR status the rate was 44%.

Professor Fentiman commented:

Follicular phase surgery is associated with poor prognosis regardless of hormone status - there was no difference in the survival of patients who had surgery during this phase when classified according to ER and PR tumour status.. More work is needed to understand the mechanisms associated with the timing of surgery.

ENDS

This research correlates with other research that Dr Lee has been speaking about for years. It is now obvious that having good amounts of progesterone around during breast surgery can dramatically improve the survival of breast cancer patients. Now we should think about the women who cannot produce their own due to a natural or surgically induced menopause, and shouldn’t we be offering them progesterone as a supplement before, after and during surgery.