Birth Control Pills and Breast Cancer

Young women who present with breast cancer are usually asked, "Are you on the Pill?"  Suspicions about causality have lain heavy in the gut of clinicians for decades.  As with hormone replacement therapy in menopause, we lacked evidence of direct malignant transformation to support our meddling in the bad old days.  By mid-2005, however, the credible folks at IARC released a monograph that classified oral contraceptives as group 1 carcinogens.  And now, a meta-analysis published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings further validates what doctors have been warning women about for years.

To be sure, neither oral contraceptives nor hormone replacement therapy will disappear from store shelves soon.  Despite side effects, they do have applications for which a risk:benefit estimate is appropriate before use.  The aforementioned papers also have some stingers:  the IARC had noted confounding mixed effects for oral contraceptives, with risks increased for some cancers but decreased for others.  They'd also included data from now-defunct preparations that incorporated higher doses of hormones.  In its turn, the meta-analysis used case-control studies found through medical literature databases– not from the more compelling individual data from randomized trials.

Its not cancer prevention so much as risk avoidance, but consumer awareness is similarly critical:  oral contraceptives and postmenopausal estrogen therapy are now ranked up there with notorious chronic hepatitis B/C infections, asbestos, and plutonium as human carcinogens.  Consult a physician before using birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy.  There may be safer alternatives for what ails you.

 

Previous Comments

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Posted by inesita at November 23, 2006, 6:57 pm

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Posted by Amasch Hilbert at September 19, 2008, 6:56 pm

MY 14 YEAROLD GRANDDAUGHTER WAS PRESCRIBED BIRTH CONTROL PILLS FOR HEAVY MENSES. I HAD BC AND MY DAUGHTER HAD BC AND 5 OF MY COUSINS HAD BC. ALSO ON MY DADS SIDE. I AM THE GRANDMOTHER , MY SON IS HER DADDY AND WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HER TAKING THE PILL. THANK YOU. LINDA ELLIS
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Posted by hoodia gordonii at January 21, 2009, 5:48 pm

Be very careful if considering the birth control pill, Yaz. Yaz has been connected to stroke, heart attack, and other adverse events: http://www.yaz-may-cause-strokes.com/.
Posted by Cynthia at November 2, 2009, 8:09 pm

This bears repeating: The birth control pill, Yaz, has been linked to a number of adverse reactions, including strokes and lawsuits are growing over these issues. Here is some good information: http://www.yaz-may-cause-strokes.com/
Posted by Cynthia at December 22, 2009, 8:05 pm