Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that two common types of hormone therapy may alter breast cancer risk in women before age 55. Researchers discovered that women treated with unopposed estrogen hormone therapy (E-HT) were less likely to develop the disease than those who did not use hormone therapy. They also found that women treated with estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy (EP-HT) were more likely to develop breast cancer than women who did not use hormone therapy. Together, these results could help to guide clinical recommendations for hormone therapy use among younger women.

A new study in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology (Osinga et al “Association of gestational thyroid function and thyroid autoimmunity with gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and individual-participant meta-analysis”) investigated a potential association between maternal thyroid function in pregnancy and risk of gestational diabetes. The study, which used data from a large sample of patients from several different studies, found low free thyroxine (FT4) levels in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of gestational diabetes (6.5% vs 3.5% in those with normal FT4 levels). However, patients with mild subclinical hypothyroidism (high thyrotropin, or TSH, and normal FT4 level) were not at increased risk of gestational diabetes.

“Since TSH is used as the screening test for thyroid dysfunction, it is unclear whether these new findings should change the current practice of thyroid function screening in pregnancy,” says Sun Young Lee MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine in an accompanying commentary,  (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(25)00126-3/fulltext).

The study highlights how ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender significantly influence a child's likelihood of receiving a transplant.

The research revealed widespread disruptions in the activity of genes responsible for early embryonic genome activation, metabolic processes, epigenetic regulation, and chromatin structure in embryos from women with PCOS.

Preliminary data from the ESHRE European IVF Monitoring (EIM) Consortium reveals a steady and progressive rise in the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). In 2022, a total of 960,347 ART treatment cycles were reported by 1,371 clinics across 39 European countries, a 15.6% reduction from the 1,137,177 cycles reported in 2021.