Drug delivery systems for hormone therapy.

Various types of formulations and delivery devices have been developed for hormone therapy (HT) and their modes of hormone action and patient responses have been evaluated. Although the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) reported the controversial results on estrogen/progestin combination therapy, HT still remains a primary therapeutic option for the treatment of menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis. As a novel alternative to HT may not be probable in clinical use for the next decade, the currently available formulations containing estrogen and progestogen should be properly optimized for HT. The extensive reviews and comparisons on the characteristics of various types of HT could lead to the development of an efficient delivery formulation which maximizes patient compliance and minimizes adverse effects for individual users.