According to a new research the prolonged use of hormone replacement therapy not just increases the risk of breast cancer but it also raises the risk for much more chronic forms of the disease and also raises a woman’s chance of dying.

The results of the study have been published in the October 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

This study is different from several previous observational studies which suggested earlier that an increased risk of breast cancer, though, it was only for lesser severe or more treatable cancers.

The author of the study, Dr Rowan Chlebowski, said “The preponderance of observational studies had suggested that the cancers would have a more favorable outcome but now we're seeing all categories of cancer increasing and, for the first time, we're reporting mortality.”

This discovery after the study will increase the bar for doctors who have been advising patients to go in for Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Following the findings of 2002 the hormone replacement therapy usage did reduce from an earlier 35 percent postmenopausal women opting for it to only 15 percent after that.