ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — According to the CDC, around 65 percent of women ages 15 to 49 are currently using some form of birth control. Besides preventing pregnancy, birth control can regulate menstrual cycles and help manage endometriosis. But as Ivanhoe reports, it has also been linked to a disease that affects one in eight women.
Age, family history, and having dense breasts can all increase your risk for breast cancer. But did you also know …
Shelley Tworoger, PhD Associate Center Director of Population Science at Moffitt Cancer Center says, “Certain birth control pills may increase risk of breast cancer while you are on them.”
A study from the UK found all hormonal contraceptives increase the risk of breast cancer by 20 to 30 percent. That risk increases with certain factors.
Professor Tworoger says, “For some women, it’s okay and other women, it’s not.”
One of those factors being age. For example, for women ages 16 to 25 taking birth control, there would be eight new cases of breast cancer per 100 thousand women. For women ages 35 to 39, that number jumps to 264 per 100 thousand. Also, the length of time matters. There were twice as many cases of breast cancer in women who took birth control for 10 years compared to those who took it for less than a year. However, birth control still produces a lower risk of breast cancer than drinking alcohol and smoking. Also, that risk … Professor Tworoger says, “Seems to go away once you stop.”
So, experts say to talk to your doctor to determine whether the risk of breast cancer outweighs the benefits of birth control.
Birth control is not only linked to an increase in breast cancer, but it can also increase your risk for blood clots and strokes. However, birth control can lower your risk for ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and colon cancer.
Contributors to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db388-H.pdf, https://www.healthline.com/health/birth-control-benefits
https://www.breastcancer.org/facts-statistics
https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/risk_factors.htm
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/birth-control-linked-breast-cancer-125322708.html?guccounter=1
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/birth-control/in-depth/birth-control-pill/art-20045136
BIRTH CONTROL AND BREAST CANCER LINK
REPORT #3088
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer initially develops in the lining cells of the ducts or lobules in the glandular tissue of the breast. At first, the cancerous growth is confined to the duct or lobule where it generally causes no symptoms and has minimal potential to spread. Over time, these cancers may progress and invade the surrounding breast tissue, then spread to the nearby lymph nodes or other organs in the body. Breast cancer is not a transmissible or infectious disease, and there are no known viral or bacterial infections linked to the development of breast cancer. Approximately half of breast cancers develop in women who have no risk factor other than gender (female) and age (over 40 years). Certain factors can increase the risk of breast cancer including increasing age, obesity, harmful use of alcohol, family history of breast cancer, history of radiation exposure, reproductive history, tobacco use and postmenopausal hormone therapy.
(Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/breast-cancer)
RISK FACTORS THAT CAN BE CONTROLLED: Studies have shown that excess weight and obesity in childhood, adolescence, and after menopause can elevate a woman’s risk of breast cancer later in life. Women who drink between two and three drinks per day have a 20 percent higher risk of breast cancer over women who don’t drink. A woman who gives birth after 30 years old, or not having children at all, can increase the risk for breast cancer. Breastfeeding may offer a small protective benefit. For every 12 months a woman breastfeeds, the relative risk of breast cancer declines by about four percent. Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) increases a woman’s breast cancer risk (especially for HR-positive tumors) to varying degrees depending on years of use and whether the MHT is estrogen-only or an estrogen and progesterone combination. For example, a woman taking estrogen and progesterone MHT for five to 14 years, has double the breast cancer risk compared to a woman who didn’t use MHT.
NEW STUDY SHOWS ANY CONTRACEPTIVE USE RAISES RISK: Researchers at Oxford Population Health’s Cancer Epidemiology Unit reveal that the use of progestogen-only hormonal contraceptives is associated with a 20-30 percent higher risk of breast cancer. The researchers analyzed data from 9,498 women who developed invasive breast cancer between ages 20 to 49, and 18,171 closely matched women without breast cancer who acted as controls. Data showed 44 percent of women with breast cancer and 39 percent of women without breast cancer had a prescription for a hormonal contraceptive an average of three years before diagnosis, and around half were last prescribed a progestogen-only contraceptive. Kirstin Pirie, statistical programmer at Oxford Population Health, and one of the lead authors, said, “Given that a person’s underlying risk of developing breast cancer increases with advancing age, the absolute excess risk of breast cancer associated with either type of oral contraceptive will be smaller in women who use it at younger ages. These excess risks must, however, be viewed in the context of the well-established benefits of contraceptive use in women’s reproductive years.”
(Source: https://www.ceu.ox.ac.uk/news/any-type-of-hormonal-contraceptive-may-increase-risk-of-breast-cancer)
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