New research indicates that a long-maligned menopausal treatment is safer than previously thought, showing that it doesn’t increase breast cancer risk in women with inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.

Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is considered a first-line treatment for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness.

However, many women with BRCA mutations perceive MHT as unsafe, due to concerns about their already elevated breast cancer risk. Joanne Kotsopoulos, a scientist at the Women’s College Hospital Research and Innovation Institute, said these women suffer unnecessarily as a result.

“Unfortunately, there has been a lot of reluctance and misinformation regarding MHT, which is mostly attributable to findings from studies conducted in t

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