40% leap in HRT women sent for cancer tests

BRITAIN’S top menopause doctors have raised the alarm over the rapid rise in women on HRT being sent for cancer tests.

Hormone replacement therapy – given to combat some of the most debilitating menopause symptoms – is safe and effective for most women but can trigger side effects such as irregular bleeding.

While common in the initial six months of starting HRT, irregular bleeding can be a sign of womb cancer, and so has to be investigated without delay.

In the past three years, there has been a 43 per cent increase in patients tested for womb cancer, driven by the rising number of women on HRT, according to the British Menopause Society.

Last week, to try to manage the surge in referrals, the society issued new guidance advising that younger women on HRT with irregular bleeding do not always need womb cancer screening.

‘We’ve all seen a huge rise in patients coming to us for cancer investigations,’ said society chair Dr Paula Briggs.

The number of patients being prescribed HRT in England rose by almost a third in just a year – from 1.8million in 2021 to 2.3million in 2022, according to the NHS Business Services Authority. Demand has been so great there have been shortages of the drugs.