Sept 5, 215 (foodconsumer.org) -- A case-control study led by scientists at Boston University confirmed the link between oral contraceptive use and increased risk for breast cancer. Recent oral contraceptive use has been consistently correlated in previous studies with increased risk of breast cancer.
Scientists analyzed data from the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk Consortium including 1848 women with ER+ (estrogen receptive positive) breast cancer, 1043 with ER - breast cancer, and 10044 women who were free of breast cancer and found African American women who had been using oral contraceptives for a long term were at much higher risk for breast cancer, compared with those who did not use oral contraceptives.
Specifically, oral contraceptive use within the previous five years was correlated with 46% increased risk for ER+ breast cancer and 57% increased risk for ER- breast cancer, compared with women who didn't use oral contraceptives.
The increase in the risk for both ER+ and ER- subtypes of breast cancer was reduced within 15 to 19 years after use of oral contraceptives was discontinued.
The scientists concluded "Our results suggest that OC use, particularly recent use of long duration, is associated with an increased risk of ER+, ER-, and triple negative breast cancer in African American women." (David Liu)
Traci N Bethea, Lynn Rosenberg, Chi-Chen Hong, Melissa A Troester, Kathryn L Lunetta, Elisa V Bandera, Pepper Schedin, Laurence N Kolonel, Andrew F Olshan, Christine B Ambrosone and Julie R Palmer, A case–control analysis of oral contraceptive use and breast cancer subtypes in the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk Consortium, Breast Cancer Research (2015) 17:22.
