Perhaps there's no topic of greater confusion to women than the highly publicised introduction of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopause. In a nutshell, the purpose of HRT is to replace hormones that decline from perimenopause onwards. There are various combinations of oestrogen and progesterone (EPT) or oestrogen (ET) only therapies. Delivery systems include patches, creams, tablets or intrauterine devices (IUDs). The recent release of a meta-analysis published in the LANCET of 58 studies and over 108000 women has clearly indicated that there is an increased risk of breast cancer and that medical practitioners should adjust their prescribing strategies. To put it into context.