Written by Harnoor Bhatti and Edited by Ashima Seth
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women after skin cancer within the United States [1]. It is estimated that over 252,710 women are diagnosed with breast cancer yearly and that over 40,500 women will die from the disease within a year [2]. Due to its widespread prevalence, the month of October is dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer – to educate more people about its symptoms, and to raise funds for research in order to find a cure. However, there are still some misconceptions regarding breast cancer, with one popular misconception being that the use of hormonal contraceptives increases the chance of getting breast cancer and/or its recurrence.
Hormonal contraceptives are often taken by women in order to prevent pregnancy, and some women even use them for acne treatment. In the early 1990s, due to the fear of birth control pills causing breast cancer, the Food and Drug Administration began to regulate pills with high concentrations of estrogen. However, according to Dr. Nancy Keating, a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the risk of developing breast cancer due to birth control pills is minimal. Most studies that suggested a correlation between breast cancer and birth control were conducted on samples of women who took contraceptives in the 1980s, when birth control had a lot more hormones than they do now [3].
One study, in particular, was conducted by the University of Copenhagen for approximately ten years and included a sample of 1.8 million Danish women from ages 15 through 49. All women in the sample had no history of any form of cancer and were using contraceptives at the time of the study. The results of the study showed that 11,517 women developed breast cancer. Since this was an observational study – that is, no experimental controls were used to account for the variability between the test subjects- it cannot clearly be stated that there was a significant association between birth control and the development of breast cancer. Additionally, there could be confounding variables present such as the amount of alcohol consumption. However, the study did show that for every 100,000 women using contraceptives, there were only 13 extra cases of breast cancer development compared to women who had breast cancer and did not use contraceptives.
Other factors, such as alcohol consumption, are more likely to cause breast cancer than the use of birth control. In a study conducted in the United Kingdom, it was found that 315 out of 100,000 women who drank alcohol three to six times a week had breast cancer, compared with 293 cases per 100,000 people per year in women who did not drink at all [4]. Further, the past use of contraceptives should not affect the risk of developing breast cancer. Once a woman stops taking the birth control, the risk of breast cancer development returns to levels seen for women who have never used it [4].
In conclusion, the risk of developing breast cancer due to the use of hormonal contraceptives has been found to be inconclusive compared to the benefits of using birth control. It is important, especially for women, to receive new information regarding birth control since about 62% of women from ages 15-42 are currently utilizing contraception [5]. All aspects of this myth should be taken into consideration since it is essential for everyone to have the correct facts before making any medical decisions that might affect them or their loved ones.
References:
1. “Breast Cancer.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 6 Mar. 2018.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/breast-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20352470
2. “Breast Cancer Facts :: The National Breast Cancer Foundation.”
https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-facts
3. Kumle, M., Weiderpass, E., Braaten, T., Persson, I., Adama, H., Lund, E. (2002) Use of Oral Contraceptives and Breast Cancer Risk. American Association for Cancer Research Publications, 11: 1375-1381.
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/11/11/1375
4.Morch, L.S., Skovlund, C.W., Hannaford, P.C., Iversen, L., Fielding, S., Lidegaard, O. (2017) Contemporary Hormonal Contraception and the Risk of Breast Cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine, 377: 2228-2239.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1700732
5. Jones J., Mosher W., Daniels K. (2012) Current Contraceptive Use in the United States, 2006–2010, and Changes in Patterns of Use Since 1995. National Health Statistics Report, 60: 1-25.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr060.pdf