Ottawa Scientists Testing Synthetic Hormones For Menopausal Women

June 23, 2009 3:03 p.m. EST

Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - A $267,000 research grant received by researchers at the University of Ottawa from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation may lead to a new drug made of synthetic hormones. The new medication is expected to remove the fear of using hormone-replacement therapy for women undergoing menopause.

HRT was seen as the miracle cure for menopausal women 10 years ago until the Women's Health Initiative made a study in the U.S. that discovered a link between taking HRT and higher incidents of breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes. By 2004 the Canadian Cancer Society declared the risks of HRT are greater than the benefits.

HRT, which increases hormone levels, helps cut menopause symptoms like hot flashes and osteoporosis.

With the grant, the University of Ottawa research team led by visiting professor Tony Durst, is studying how to reengineer estrogen estradiol,one of the key elements of hormone-replacement Premarin. That drug is a commercial medication sourced from a pregnant horse's urine.

Durst said his team will attempt to produce molecules capable of performing the functions of estrogen, but would not cause breast and uterine cancer which estrogen does. So far Durst's team had synthesized 70 molecules and a major pharmaceutical firm is testing five of the compounds.

For the next phase of the trials, the University of Ottawa researchers will test the compounds on liver, heart and other types of body cells. Durst estimated it would take a minimum of four years before the synthetic hormones would be available commercially.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer to hit Canadian women. The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation estimates that this year 22,700 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer or an average of 437 females every week.