negative effects of HRT were revealed in those studes.
examples are: Premarin .45 and Prempro .3
Estragel did not come to US until about 2004.
Bioident compounded "natural" estrogen analogues were always available by special RX. (these are being investigated now by the FDA BTW).

Comparing topical to oral, the doses are always smaller because topical applications bypass the liver. Oral meds go thru the liver (this is called first pass) before entering the circulation. The patches for example were designed to be close in blood level to the oral (after first pass).
Hormones are mostly metabolized in the liver and also including some in GI wall. This is why we don't see oral testosterone products commonly for males--they are typically topical or injected. There used to be a buccal testosterone by Schering but it was taken off the market. There are some "androgen" products filtering thru the body building culture, but they remain poorly bioavailable yet.
(Andriol)

Night sweats do not always respond to HRT. I have had experience with women who have gone past the 2.5mg dose of Premarin and took both Estrace and Premarin in high dose to try and treat this.
Hot flashes are very complex and other treatments try to help with them as well. One is using Catapres patches. Others include low dose SSRIs (this puzzles me since serotonin makes you sweat) and Neurontin. This suggests that vasomotor reflexes involved in "hot flashes" are not only hormone driven, but have other reasons.

I myself found caffeine and sugar to be huge triggers for sweating.

Choosing a route for menopause is tough, and it varies from woman to woman. Estrogens are not the only solution. So discuss this with your doctor.

Night sweats and sweating in general can be a sign of insulin resistance or prediabetes. (this occurs at approximately the same time as menopause for many women.)
Night sweats also can be due to hidden low grade infections.
So evaluation by a doctor is really the best way to go.
Some drugs also cause sweating (for example after you take an NSAID or aspirin you may sweat some).