Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The pill ups early breast cancer risk slightly

A potentially scary headline -- but in reality it's probably not a big deal. I'm sure some local TV news reports will pick up on this story as they think those scary teasers will get you to watch..."A popular prescription medicine can cause cancer! More info after the late local weather and the joke of the day!"


From Reuters:
Oral contraceptive (OC) use is a risk factor for premenopausal breast cancer, according to pooled data published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

However, even for women most at risk -- parous women (i.e., those who have given birth) and who used OCs for at least 4 years before their first full-term pregnancy -- "the absolute risk ...is very small," Dr. James R. Cerhan, from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, emphasizes in an accompanying editorial. ...more

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