The Pill linked to breast cancer risk for younger women

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new statistical analysis finds that women under age 50 who were diagnosed with breast cancer were also more likely to have recently been on some versions of the Pill. The increased cancer risk still translates to less than a one percent chance of developing breast cancer for most younger women, researchers emphasize, so the results should not outweigh the many benefits of taking oral contraceptives. These results are not enough to change clinical practice or to discourage any women from taking birth control pills, said lead study author Elizabeth F. Beaber, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. Some past research suggests that the hormones in birth control pills could “feed” hormone-sensitive tumors and thereby raise younger women’s risk of a breast cancer diagnosis, or of developing more aggressive cancers (see Reuters Health article of February 26, 2013 here: http://reut.rs/1s8tM44).

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