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1. STUDY 01Findings added Oct 7, 2026

   The label tracker

   TL;DR

   Prescribing patterns varied by race and treatment category

   African American, Hispanic and Asian women had lower adjusted odds of a menopausal hormone therapy prescription than White women at one center. Local menopausal hormone therapy was the largest documented category, followed by systemic and combination therapy.

   This retrospective observational study used records from one large academic medical center; it cannot explain the differences, may miss prescriptions obtained elsewhere and may not generalize.

   Study details & original results

   Rusk, Kimberly L et al.. From black box warning to wake-up call: menopausal hormone therapy prescribing patterns at a large academic medical center.. Menopause (New York, N.Y.). 2026.

   Odds of an MHT prescription among African American women compared with White women

   AOR 0.513
   95% CI: 0.486-0.541

   Odds of an MHT prescription among Asian women compared with White women

   AOR 0.760
   95% CI: 0.688-0.838

   Odds of an MHT prescription among Hispanic women compared with White women

   AOR 0.644
   95% CI: 0.613-0.676

   Distribution of documented MHT prescription types

   54.61% local; 37.66% systemic; 7.37% combination; 0.37% unknown

   Citation in The label tracker

   One key learningRead original study in a new tab
2. STUDY 02Findings added Oct 7, 2026

   The label tracker

   TL;DR

   Awareness exceeded reported increases in prescribing

   80.7%

   Among surveyed Latin American physicians, 80.7% knew the revised FDA statement; 59.4% reported practice changes and 18.7% reported increased menopausal hormone therapy prescribing. Changes involved breast cancer risk explanations and time spent on patient education and shared decision-making.

   The cross-sectional observational survey was self-reported and subject to recall, social desirability and participation bias, so it cannot establish that the statement caused the changes.

   Study details & original results

   Blümel, Juan E et al.. Awareness and clinical impact of the revised FDA warning on menopausal hormone therapy among Latin American physicians. REDLINC XIV.. Menopause (New York, N.Y.). 2026.

   Awareness of the revised FDA statement on MHT among surveyed Latin American physicians

   80.7%

   Self-reported clinical impact of the revised FDA communication; the authors characterized the increase in prescribing as relatively modest

   59.4% reported practice changes; 18.7% reported increased MHT prescribing

   Self-reported changes in explaining breast cancer risk and time spent on patient education and shared decision-making

   53.3%; 40.4%

   Citation in The label tracker

   One key learningRead original study in a new tab
3. STUDY 03Findings added Sep 5, 2026

   Hormone therapy

   TL;DR

   Continuous combined therapy probably reduced fractures; breast-cancer risk probably increased

   Continuous combined therapy probably reduced all clinical fractures but probably increased breast-cancer risk versus placebo. It may have increased stroke, blood clots in veins and gallbladder disease requiring surgery; coronary-event and lung-cancer differences were not established.

   Continuous combined therapy was compared with placebo. Breast-cancer, stroke, clot, coronary and lung-cancer findings involved postmenopausal women with an intact uterus. Gallbladder surgery included 14,203 participants. Only coronary follow-up is available here, averaging 5.6 years. Evidence was moderate-certainty for fractures, breast cancer, coronary events and lung cancer; other findings were low-certainty.

   Estrogen-only therapy probably reduced fractures but probably increased stroke

   Estrogen-only therapy probably reduced all clinical fractures but probably increased stroke and gallbladder disease requiring surgery versus placebo. No clear difference was established for breast cancer, coronary events, blood clots in veins or lung cancer.

   For fractures, oral conjugated equine estrogen was compared with placebo among 10,739 women after hysterectomy; about 30% were aged 50 to 59. Fracture and coronary follow-up averaged seven years; other follow-up is unavailable here. Applicability to current therapies is limited. All findings were moderate-certainty except lung cancer, which was low-certainty.

   Study details & original results

   Bofill Rodriguez, Magdalena et al.. Long-term hormone therapy for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2026.

   Risk of all clinical fractures with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo; probable reduction, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 0.78
   95% CI: 0.71-0.86

   Breast-cancer risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; probable increase, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.27
   95% CI: 1.03-1.56

   Stroke risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; possible increase, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.39
   95% CI: 1.09-2.09

   Venous-thromboembolism risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; possible increase, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

   RR 2.03
   95% CI: 1.55-6.64

   Gallbladder disease requiring surgery with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo; possible increase among 14,203 participants, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.64
   95% CI: 1.30-2.06

   Coronary-event risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study with mean follow-up of 5.6 years and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.17
   95% CI: 0.95-1.44

   Lung-cancer risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.06
   95% CI: 0.77-1.46

   Citation in Hormone therapy

   Risk of all clinical fractures with estrogen-only conjugated equine estrogen versus placebo among 10,739 postmenopausal women after hysterectomy, with an average follow-up of seven years; moderate-certainty evidence. The result was based on one study using oral hormone therapy, which may not represent currently used therapies, and only about 30% of participants were aged 50 to 59 years at baseline.

   RR 0.73
   95% CI: 0.65-0.80

   Stroke risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probable increase, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.33
   95% CI: 1.06-1.67

   Gallbladder disease requiring surgery with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probable increase, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.78
   95% CI: 1.42-2.24

   Breast-cancer risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 0.79
   95% CI: 0.61-1.01

   Coronary-event risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in 10,739 postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probably little to no difference after an average of seven years, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 0.94
   95% CI: 0.78-1.13

   Venous-thromboembolism risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.32
   95% CI: 1.00-1.74

   Lung-cancer risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; possibly little to no difference, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

   RR 1.04
   95% CI: 0.73-1.48

   Citation in Hormone therapy

   2 key learningsRead original study in a new tab
4. STUDY 04Findings added Aug 14, 2026

   Hormone therapy

   TL;DR

   The model projected lower costs and fewer lifetime deaths

   Both strategies projected lower costs, more quality-adjusted life-years, fewer deaths and fewer atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease cases than no hormone therapy. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis favored both at all tested willingness-to-pay thresholds.

   A Markov model projected lifetime outcomes for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms, assuming 5 years of treatment. Transdermal estradiol was modeled for women without a uterus, and transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone for women with a uterus; all results are projections rather than observed costs or events.

   Modeled fracture gains came with mixed cancer projections

   Both strategies projected fewer hip fractures but more breast-cancer cases. Colon-cancer cases were projected to fall with transdermal estradiol alone and rise with transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone.

   A Markov model projected lifetime outcomes for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms, assuming 5 years of treatment. Transdermal estradiol was modeled for women without a uterus, and transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone for women with a uterus; these are projections rather than observed events.

   Study details & original results

   Gill, Elizabeth et al.. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Menopausal Hormone Therapy.. Obstetrics and gynecology. 2026.

   Markov-model projection comparing 5 years of transdermal estradiol with no MHT for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus.

   $135,396,560 lower cost and 33,196 QALYs gained per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection comparing the transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone strategy with no MHT for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus, assuming 5 years of use.

   $127,738,990 lower cost and 33,083 QALYs gained per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Probabilistic sensitivity analysis for both modeled MHT strategies.

   Absolute dominance at all willingness-to-pay thresholds up to $200,000

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

   647 fewer deaths per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

   615 fewer deaths per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

   259 fewer ASCVD cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

   285 fewer ASCVD cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Citation in Hormone therapy

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

   181 fewer hip fractures per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

   183 fewer hip fractures per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

   87 more breast cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

   46 more breast cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

   105 fewer colon cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

   18 more colon cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

   Citation in Hormone therapy

   2 key learningsRead original study in a new tab

Dates show when findings were added here, not when papers were published. Study populations and comparisons differ.