Leaked WPATH documents reveal healthcare professionals acknowledging cancer risk in transgender hormone therapy

Doctors affiliated with a prominent transgender healthcare organization have acknowledged that some patients have developed cancer as a result of hormone therapy.

Leaked emails reveal admissions from other healthcare providers that transgender patients might not fully grasp the implications of gender transition, reports the Telegraph.

Documents from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), whose guidelines impact NHS practices, indicate that physicians are performing transformative surgeries and prescribing puberty blockers despite knowing that both adults and children may not completely comprehend the future consequences.

One doctor discussed the case of a transgender individual who passed away from cancer, which was linked to their hormone therapy.

“I have one transition friend/colleague who, after about eight to 10 years of [testosterone] developed hepatocarcinoma [a form of liver cancer],” the doctor wrote.

“To the best of my knowledge, it was linked to his hormone treatment… it was so advanced that he opted for palliative care and died a couple of months later.”

The documents do not clarify whether the individual who passed away had been informed or was aware of the side effect.

Another stated their intention to proceed with a double mastectomy (referred to as "top surgery") for a 16-year-old girl, despite the likelihood that hormone treatment had caused her liver cancer.

“The oncologist and surgeon both have indicated that the likely offending agent(s) are the hormones,” the doctor wrote. “We are prepared to support the patient in any way we can (e.g. top surgery when medically stable, etc).”

A gender therapist mentioned that over a span of 15 years, they had rejected only one individual for treatment.

I have also intervened on behalf of people who have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, homeless and got at least an orchiectomy [testicle removal],” they said.

“In the last 15 years, I had to regrettably decline writing only one letter, mainly because the person evaluated was in active psychosis and hallucinated during the assessment session.

“Other than that – nothing – everyone got their assessment letter, insurance approval, and are living (presumably) happily ever after.”

Several doctors confessed that their patients frequently did not grasp the consequences of hormone therapy or surgical interventions, including the potential to grow facial hair. A child psychologist expressed in a leaked email included in the report: “[It is] out of their developmental range to understand the extent to which some of these medical interventions are impacting them.

“They’ll say they understand, but then they’ll say something else that makes you think, oh, they didn’t really understand that they are going to have facial hair.”

The Telegraph reports:

The contents of the forum was leaked to Michael Shellenberger, a US writer and journalist.

“The WPATH Files show that what is called ‘gender medicine’ is neither science nor medicine,” he said.

“The experiments are not randomised, double-blind, or controlled. It’s not medicine since the first rule is to do no harm. And that requires informed consent.

“Activist members of WPATH know that the so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ they provide can result in life-long complications and sterility and that their patients do not understand the implications, such as loss of sexual function and the ability to experience orgasm.

“These leaked files show overwhelming evidence that the professionals within WPATH know that they are not getting consent from children, adolescents, and vulnerable adults, or their caregivers.”

WPATH is made up of doctors, psychologists, therapists and activists and although it has some UK members it is based in the US. It is best known for its “standards of care” guidelines which the NHS in England was previously aligned with. Scotland still is.

WPATH was approached for comment.