Does the Pill cause breast cancer?
Q: With all the news about the HRT–cancer link, I am worried about whether the Pill can cause breast cancer. I have read that some women like Suzanne Somers blame their breast cancer on being on birth control pills for so many years. A. So far, the data are fairly reassuring that birth control pills and the other methods of hormonal contraception that are currently on the market do not increase the risk of breast cancer when used by women of reproductive age. But this is a question that certainly bears watching, as certain subgroups of women may fall in a different risk category. Some women stay on BCP’s for 15–20 years or more, and to date there just have not been any good studies evaluating such long-term use of birth control pills. More importantly, it is not recommended for women to use the Pill after menopause. That said, the Pill has actually been shown to reduce the risk of uterine cancer and ovarian cancer. Hormones in the Pill are synthetic, but the formulas used in birth cont
