Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) cuts a woman’s risk of developing colon cancer, new research confirms.

Millions of women stopped taking HRT when a Women’s Health Initiative study showed in 2002 that the hormones raised the risk of stroke, heart disease and breast cancer. But the Women’s Health Initiative had also found that HRT protected against colon cancer.

For example, women who used hormones for less than four years cut their colon cancer risk by about one-quarter; four to eight years of HRT cut risk by a third; nine to 14 years of use halved risk; and 15 years or more of HRT reduced risk by two-thirds.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6385AQ20100409