ABSTRACT
Breast cancer is the second most common malignancy among women and also the second leading cause of cancer death for women (DeSantis et al. 2011). Experimental and epidemiological data strongly associate excessive estrogen exposure, such as in hormone replacement therapy (HRT), with the development of breast cancer (Bolton 2011; Chen et al. 2008). The release of the initial results from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Study in July 2002 highlighted the increased risk of breast cancer due to HRT (Rossouw et al. 2002). A recent analysis of data from the National
28.1 Introduction: Breast Cancer Risk and Botanical Alternatives for Hormone Replacement Therapy ........................................................................................................... 529
28.2 Mechanisms of Estrogen Carcinogenesis ............................................................................. 530 28.2.1 Hormonal Pathway ................................................................................................... 530 28.2.2 Chemical Pathway .................................................................................................... 531 28.2.3 Inammatory Pathway .............................................................................................. 531
28.3 Botanical Modulation of Estrogen Carcinogenesis .............................................................. 532 28.3.1 Black Cohosh ............................................................................................................ 532
28.3.1.1 Hormonal Pathway ..................................................................................... 533 28.3.1.2 Chemical Pathway...................................................................................... 534 28.3.1.3 Inammatory Pathway ............................................................................... 534
28.3.2 Red Clover ................................................................................................................ 534 28.3.2.1 Hormonal Pathway ..................................................................................... 535 28.3.2.2 Chemical Pathway...................................................................................... 536 28.3.2.3 Anti-Inammatory Pathway ...................................................................... 536
28.3.3 Hops .......................................................................................................................... 538 28.3.3.1 Hormonal Pathway ..................................................................................... 538 28.3.3.2 Chemical Pathway...................................................................................... 538 28.3.3.3 Anti-Inammatory Activity ....................................................................... 538
28.4 Conclusion and Perspectives ................................................................................................. 539 Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................................................540 References ......................................................................................................................................540
Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries has shown that age-adjusted incidence rate of breast cancer fell sharply in 2003 and has been sustained through 2005, which seemed to be related to the drop in the use of HRT (Ravdin et al. 2007; Chlebowski et al. 2009).
