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Results of a new, longer-term study confirm that women should not take hormone replacement therapy to reduce any disease risk after menopause. But short-term treatment for menopause symptoms seems to be safe. The new results are consistent with advice doctors have been giving for about a decade. The new study is a follow-up to the Women’s Health Initiative. That study changed medical practice when it was published in 2002. The study was stopped early when it found that women who were randomly assigned to take estrogen and progestin had higher risks of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots. They were compared with women taking placebo (fake) pills. A study of women taking estrogen alone found a slightly higher risk of blood clots and stroke. The new study looked at the women’s health after 13 years.

Women with one type of breast cancer now will be able to get drug treatment before surgery. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved uses for the drug Perjeta (pertuzumab). It now is approved for early-stage as well as advanced HER2-positve breast cancers. HER2 receptors are proteins found on the surface of most breast cancers. They provide docking stations for a hormone that can increase breast cancer growth. Cancers with an excess number of HER2 receptors are called HER2-positive. Pertuzumab blocks the receptors so the hormone can’t attach to the cells and spur them to grow. The drug already was approved for treatment of HER2-positive cancers that had spread. Now women with early-stage cancers can receive it as their first treatment. This is the first breast-cancer drug approved for use before surgery.

Clusters of children who didn’t get shots contributed to a major outbreak of pertussis in California, a study suggests. Pertussis is also called whooping cough. The 2010 outbreak was the largest in more than 60 years. More than 9,000 cases and 10 deaths occurred. All states require children to get vaccines before they enter kindergarten. One of the vaccines helps prevent whooping cough. But California allows exemptions for many non-medical reasons. Researchers looked at patterns of non-medical exemptions in the state. They focused on the years 2005 through 2010. They found 39 areas of the state with large clusters of exemptions. They also found 2 areas of the state that had high rates of whooping cough in 2010. Census districts in exemption clusters were 2.5 times as likely to have high rates of whooping cough as areas with fewer exemptions.

E-cigarettes may help people quit smoking, a small study suggests. The study included 657 adults who wanted to quit smoking. They were randomly divided into 3 groups. One group received nicotine patches. The others received either real or fake (placebo) e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes produce a vapor that contains nicotine. They do not burn tobacco. The placebo e-cigarettes did not contain nicotine. After 6 months, 7.3% of those using the e-cigarettes had quit smoking. That was slightly better than the 5.8% who quit with the patch, an established quit-smoking aid. About 4.1% quit with only the fake e-cigarettes. Researchers said more study is needed to establish the benefits and long-term harms of e-cigarettes. The journal Lancet published the study. CNN.com and HealthDay News wrote about it.