New research has revealed that the seven per cent drop in US breast cancer incidents seen between 2002 and 2003 was only partly due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
The use of HRT declined in the wake of the publication of The Women's Health Initiative study, which discovered the therapy lead to increased risks of breast cancer.
Study leader Brian Sprague, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin, said: "We found that the change in hormone therapy use only accounted for a decline of about three per cent, so there's another four per cent that is being caused by something we do not yet know."
"This does not mean that women should start taking hormones again, but there appear to be additional factors that have contributed to the decline in breast cancer," he added.
The study was presented at cancer prevention conference held by the American Association for Cancer Research between December 6th and December 9th.
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