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  • Title: [New discoveries on oral contraceptives and risk of breast cancer. International data show a moderate increase in risk].
    Author: Persson I.
    Journal: Lakartidningen; 1996 Dec 11; 93(50):4613-6. PubMed ID: 8999253.
    Abstract:
    In 1992 an initiative was launched to utilize all available information on breast cancer, the "Collaborative Group on Hormone Factors in Breast Cancer" under the leadership of Oxford, England, epidemiologists. 90% of all the known epidemiological data were assembled from 25 countries. 54 studies were included, which involved more than 53,000 women with breast cancer and over 100,000 controls. Four different time dimensions of oral contraceptive (OC) exposure were researched: 1) the duration of treatment showed a weak trend with a slightly increased risk after 10-14 years (relative risk [RR] = 1.16); 2) age at first use of OC showed a significant increase of risk for women who had started taking the pill before the age of 20 (RR = 1.22), but not for older ages; 3) increasing latent time (use after the first use) showed a decreasing risk; 4) time since the last time of use showed increased correlation. Women who were using OCs at the time of being diagnosed with breast cancer had the highest increased risk (RR = 1.24). This correlation decreased after the end of OC use to return to baseline 10 years after discontinuation. There was a higher risk for women who started OC use before 20 (RR = 1.59 for ongoing use vs. 1.44 for women who had concluded use 1-4 years before). The highest risk was found in women who were under 35 years of age at the time of diagnosis with recently terminated OC use. The association of risk with OCs was limited to less advanced breast cancer, which was a new and significant finding. The estrogen and gestagen content of OCs did not show any differences in the risk correlation for different preparations. There was a modest increase of risk for combined pills (RR = 1.17). This re-analysis showed that the increase of risk is small and limited to the time periods of OC use, that the tumors are less serious, and that the absolute risk for young women is negligible.
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