Ingesting hormonal contrace-ption for 10 years increases the risk of breast cancer by 38%, according to a new study in The New England Journal of Medi-cine. “This is the first study that had shown intrauterine devices with hormones having associa-tion with breast cancer in large numbers,” Dr David Agus, a University of Southern California physician, explained on CBS News.
“With the lower dose of oral contraceptives, we thought there wouldn’t be as much of a risk as the higher dose but it turns out to be the same – about a 20% increa-se in breast cancer overall,” said Agus.
This study shows the risk increases by “9% if you’re on it for a year, and up to 38% if you’re on it for ten years or more,” he said.
The oncologist who founded breastcancer.org, Dr Marisa Weiss, told the New York Times the study’s results show “a significant public health concern.”
The study, titled Contemporary Hormonal Contraception and the Risk of Breast Cancer, reveals that newer, lower-hormone dose forms of contraception still increase the risk of breast cancer.
The New York Times called this risk created by birth control “a small but significant increase.”
