New birth control pills increase breast cancer risk, according to study

Women who use birth control pills or hormonal contraceptive methods can increase their risk of breast cancer by up to 38% (depending on how long she has been taking them), according to a new study published this week.

The study, which followed 1.8 million Danish women under the age of 50 for over a decade, debunks the widespread belief (even by doctors) that modern contraceptive methods were safer than earlier versions of birth control. These includes all form of hormonal contraception like birth control pills, injections and IUDs.

It builds upon earlier research, like the study conducted by the University of Michigan, which discovered that commonly prescribed birth control pills may quadruple levels of synthetic oestrogen and progesterone – hormones thought to contribute to the development of breast cancer.

HIGHER RISK AMONG OLDER WOMEN AND PROLONGED USE

According to the study, the risk of breast cancer increased the longer a woman had been taking hormonal contraceptives. In fact, researchers discovered that women faced an increased 9% risk of breast cancer if they took hormonal contraceptives for less than a year, but face a dramatic rise in risk to 38% if they have been using it for over 10 years.

Younger women are less at risk, with rates almost five times higher in women in their 40s than women in their 30s. Because the risk increases with age, gynaecologists also suggest that older women can consider switching to a hormone-free birth control method, like a diaphragm or condoms. Once women reach the age when breast cancer rates peak (i.e. between 50 to 70) however, whether or not they took hormonal contraceptives has little bearing.

SO… SHOULD YOU TOSS OUT YOUR PILLS?

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. If you’re considering ceasing your birth control pills, the study also found that there was a rapid disappearance of breast cancer risk among women who discontinued their hormonal contraceptives. This means that if you decide to toss them out, your risk of breast cancer dramatically reduces – provided you have not been on hormonal contraceptives for prolonged periods.

It’s also important to consider that hormonal contraceptives are also beneficial to women. Oral pills, for one, have been linked to a lower risk of ovarian, endometrial and colorectal cancers later in life. “The benefits (against these other cancers) persists for one to two decades,” according to David Hunter, professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Nuffield Department of Population Health in the UK, says, while breast cancer risk declines more rapidly. “Overall, it may be more beneficial.”

Other scientists and researchers have also stressed that the contraceptive pill has played such a positive role in the lives of many women. The study ought not to cast birth control pills in a negative light, but rather place the responsibility in companies to design birth control pills in a way that does not contribute to a greater risk of breast cancer on women.

Sarah Khan

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