Medscape Medical News Oral Contraceptives Not Linked to Breast Cancer Laurie Barclay, MD June 27, 2002 In a population-based case-control study reported in the June 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, oral contraceptives (OCP) did not increase the risk of breast cancer, even in long-term users, in women that began OCP use at a young age or in women with a family history of breast cancer. "Current or former use of OCP among women 35 to 64 years old did not significantly increase the risk of breast cancer," write Polly A. Marchbanks, PhD, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues. "Our data provide strong evidence that former OCP use does not increase this risk later in life, when the incidence of breast cancer is higher." Based on interviews of 4,575 women with breast cancer and 4,682 control patients, the authors calculated the relative risk to be 1.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8-1.3) for women currently using OCP and 0.9 (95% CI, 0.8-1.0) for previous users. Relative risk did not increase consistently with longer duration of use or with higher estrogen doses, nor was it higher in black women, women with positive family history, or women who began using OCP early in life. "The importance of this finding for public health is enormous, because more than 75% of the women in the study had used OCP," Nancy E. Davidson, MD, and Kathy J. Helzlsouer, MD, MHS, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, write in an accompanying editorial. "Our attention should shift from concern about the possible adverse effects of current OCP to the identification of an ideal OCP, one that would reduce the risk of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer without cardiovascular complications." N Engl J Med. 2002;346(26):2025-32, 2078-2079 Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.