POEM: Newer oral contraceptive pill does not increase risk of breast cancer

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7371.0/i

BMJ 2002;325:0 ( 2 November )

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Newer oral contraceptive pill does not increase risk of breast cancer

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Clinical question Does oral contraceptive use increase the risk of breastcancer?

Synopsis A previous pooled analysis of more than 50 studies with more than 150 000 patients (Lancet1996;347:1713-27)[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] found a slight increase in the risk of breastcancer with previous oral contraceptive use, with a relative riskof 1.1. This risk was lower for patients who took higher dosepills and for those who were currently taking oral contraceptives.However, the quality of studies included in this pooled analysisvaried, and many patients used older, high dose oral contraceptives.This new study examined the same question in 4575 American womenwith breast cancer and 4682 matched controls. Cases were identifiedfrom cancer registries in five cities, and controls by randomdigit dialling. All women were interviewed to determine theirhistory of oral contraceptive use. This well executed case-controlstudy probably represents the highest level of evidence that wewill achieve for . . . [Full text of this article]