I too have heard that we need to be careful about hormones, even if we are HR-. It might not be promotive directly of our cancer but it could torque our systems in ways we don't intend.
Most breast cancer patients have dysregulation of copper and zinc in their systems. I read recently that the analogues are like this copper=estrogen, zinc=progesterone. This makes sense as my copper was sky-high when I was diagnosed and my zinc was at the floor. I also was diagnosed with a luteal phase deficiency while dealing with infertility years so, with low progesterone (in a real test by a regular doc). I found an epidimiology report from the early 1980s that said that women who had infertility and a LP progesterone deficiency had a 500% increase in the risk of developing breast cancer. Hello to me then eh?
In case you are interested:
"A growing body of literature has documented a strong connection between a woman’s progesterone levels and her subsequent risk for breast cancer. A trial reported in the International Journal of Cancer in 2004 measured blood levels of progesterone in 5,963 premenopausal women. Incredibly, the analysis of the data revealed that those women with the highestblood levels of progesterone levels who had regular menses experienced an 88% decreased risk of breast cancer.51 These findings corroborate another study in which 1,083 women treated for infertility were followed for upwards of 33 years to determine their subsequent breast cancer risk. Compared to women with normal progesterone levels, those deficient in progesterone had a 540% increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer, and were 10 times as likely to die from any cancer."
http://m.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/oc...ormones_01.htm
Corpus luteum dysfunction and the epidemiology of breast cancer: A reconsideration
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01806745
So anyway, when dealing with infertility and fibroids I spent a lot of time researching natural progesterone cream and I do think that it helped my body in that regard. Dr John Lee wrote a lot about it in
What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Premenopause. There was some controversy around it though, like were bio-identical hormones good or bad for us. And this isn't even getting into HRT. Chinese Medicine took a slightly different vantage as I tried that years ago, successfully, to deal with my fertility issues -- what you supplement will remove your body's own capabilities to adjust to what it needs to. Take extra progesterone and your body might just quit entirely.
Fast forward to me and chemo two years ago. My gyn said with BC she was taught no hormones, but then AF showed up the day after my first dose of chemo and I had bleeding/spotting/ BV for two months. The gyn said it was due to unopposed estrogen that was causing breakthrough bleeding. I was like f-this and so I did supplement with NPC (natural progesterone cream) during that time of breakthrough bleeding and chemo. It didn't hurt me at all and I had a PCR to boot.
This past year my cycle got weird and I tried NPC again and you know what happened to me both times (and this is using it not on my boobs, I was putting it on my forearms, belly, thighs as you are supposed to)? There was an area on my opposite breast, the one that didn't have BC and it caused
mammary duct ectasia -- twice. My Chinese Medicine doc worked on it some and I did get it imaged just to be sure and it was benign but it took weeks to go away.
I took it to mean that it isn't being supportive now and my body is being very clear about that. It definitely was showing me that it is affecting things in my body, and in ways that weren't helpful at all to the cause.
So, anyway, since I experimented and my body slapped my hand I can at least share my hard won experience with you all. Hopefully this helps guide you in your decision-making.