Going by the findings of a new study, led by Dr. Katherine DeLellis Henderson of the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, despite the fact that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is associated with serious health risks, menopausal women who use the hormones can have lower chances of colon cancer risk.

The findings of the study, published in the online edition of American Journal of Epidemiology, January 11, were based on the observation of almost nearly 57,000 teachers in California.

The researchers found that women who used HRT had a 36 percent less likelihood of developing colon cancer in the next ten years as compared to those women who had never used HRT.

Statistically speaking, during the study period, 193 out of the 34,433 HRT users, and 151 out of the 13,778 non-HRT users were reportedly diagnosed of colon cancer.

The study, which corroborates the earlier theory that estrogen can help prevent colon cancer to some extent, also noted that HRT - either with estrogen alone or an estrogen-progestin combination – helps reduce colon cancer risk, irrespective of factors like age, weight, race and exercise levels of women.

However, HRT use is not recommended as a preventive measure against colon cancer, largely because it is linked to a greater risk of heart attack, stroke, breast cancer and blood clots in postmenopausal women.