New study: pill safe for young woman with high risk of breast cancer

Young women who are at a greatly increased risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer due to genetic mutations can safely use contraception, according to Amsterdam researcherspill continue to use until they are about 25 years old. After that, it is important that they are well informed about their specific situation, the scientists of the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) recommend.

Risks and effects

Pill use has both unfavorable and beneficial effects: the risk of breast cancer is increased by almost a quarter, while the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer, on the contrary, is reduced by half. Until now, it was unclear what wisdom is for women with a so-called BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation in their genes. These abnormalities cause 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancer cases, according to previous studies. Of the women with these mutations, about 70 percent get breast cancer once in their lifetime. The risk of ovarian cancer is 35 to 45 percent in BRCA1 and 10 to 20 percent in BRCA2.

Women with the BRCA mutation must therefore make a decision, says Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, to which the NKI belongs. “Do they find the increased cancer risk acceptable in the short term, given the benefits of pilluse and the high cancer risk they already have anyway, or do they want to prevent further risk increase by switching to non-hormonal contraception, such as condoms or a non-hormonal spiral.”

–