Birth control may be increasing women’s chance of developing breast cancer by as much as 38 percent.
The study used an average of 10 years of data from more than 1.8 million Danish women.
After all, it means that nearly a quarter of American women are doing something that might increase their risk of developing breast cancer by a third—in theory.
Overall, the study found that women who used birth control had a 20 percent increase in their relative risk for developing breast cancer.
Women who had used hormonal birth control for less than a year had only a 9 percent increase in their relative risk, while women who had used birth control for more than 10 years had a 38 percent increase.
The paper did not make any note of whether birth control impacted mortality from breast cancer, Leath noted.
According to an editorial that accompanied the study in NEJM, birth control may actually be protective against cancer on the whole despite this increased risk for one type. »
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