Breast cancer: pill increases risk
All content is checked by medical journalists.MunichThe pill may have an unpleasant side effect: women who used contraception until recently are more likely to get breast cancer, a study shows. The composition of the hormone preparation plays a role here.
Those who take contraception with the pill willingly influence their hormonal balance. But hormones also play a role in the formation of some types of breast cancer. Elisabeth F. Beaber from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and her team investigated whether the two factors can be related.
To do this, they evaluated the data from 1,102 breast cancer patients. The women were diagnosed with the disease between 1990 and 2009 and were between 20 and 49 years old at that time. The data set contained precise information about which contraceptives, at what dose and for how long the women had taken. In addition, the scientists had values from 21,952 healthy test subjects who served as a control group.
Breast cancer three times more likely
Women who had used contraception in the past year had an average 50 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who were not using hormones or who had been taking it more than a year ago. On closer inspection, this effect depends on the composition of the contraceptive. Preparations with a low estrogen content did not increase the risk of breast cancer, whereas a medium content of the hormone increased it 1.6-fold and a high one even 2.7-fold. The steroid hormone ethynodiol and three-phase pills with 0.75 milligrams of the progestogen norethisterone also had a negative effect. The breast cancer risk increased in these 2.6- and 3.1-fold.
One of the safest contraceptives
The pill is the most frequently used contraceptive in Germany and is considered to be one of the safest. Most preparations combine estrogens and progestins. This is how the pill works in several places: The hormones suppress egg cell maturation and ovulation. They lead to the formation of a plug of mucus in the cervix, making it impassable for sperm. They also change the lining of the uterus and make it more difficult for a fertilized egg to implant. (away)
Source: Beaber E. F. et al .: Recent oral contraceptive use by formulation and breast cancer risk among women 20 to 49 years of age, Cancer Research, August 1, 2014, doi: 10.1158 / 0008-5472.CAN-13-3400
Tags: book tip medicinal herbal home remedies travel medicine
