Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal logoLink to British Medical Journal
. 1972 Sep 23;3(5829):719–724. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5829.719

Oral Contraceptives and Breast Neoplasia: A Retrospective Study

Martin P Vessey, Richard Doll, Peter M Sutton
PMCID: PMC1788666  PMID: 5077908

Abstract

Between 1 December 1968 and 31 December 1971 345 women aged 16-39 years with a lump in the breast (90 malignant and 255 benign) were interviewed at five London teaching hospitals together with 347 matched controls suffering from acute medical or surgical conditions or admitted to hospital for routine elective surgery. Questions were asked about each patient's medical, obstetric, menstrual, contraceptive, and social histories.

The data do not suggest that the use of oral contraceptives is related in any way to the risk of breast cancer but provide some evidence that the preparations may actually protect against benign breast disease. This protective effect is largely confined to women who continue to use oral contraceptives and have used them altogether for more than two years. Such women appear to have only about 25% as great a risk of being admitted to hospital for a breast biopsy as women who have never used oral contraceptives at all.

Full text

PDF
719

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allen W. Possible hazards in estrogen administration. Cancer. 1969 Dec;24(6):1137–1139. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196912)24:6<1137::aid-cncr2820240610>3.0.co;2-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arthes F. G., Sartwell P. E., Lewison E. F. The pill, estrogens, and the breast. Epidemiologic aspects. Cancer. 1971 Dec;28(6):1391–1394. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1391::aid-cncr2820280609>3.0.co;2-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Doll R. The long-term effects of steroid contraceptives. J Biosoc Sci. 1970 Oct;2(4):367–389. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fechner R. E. Fibroadenomas in patients receiving oral contraceptives: a clinical and pathologic study. Am J Clin Pathol. 1970 Jun;53(6):857–864. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/53.6.857. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fechner R. E. Fibrocystic disease in women receiving oral contraceptive hormones. Cancer. 1970 Jun;25(6):1332–1339. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197006)25:6<1332::aid-cncr2820250611>3.0.co;2-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Goldenberg V. E., Wiegenstein L., Mottet N. K. Florid breast fibroadenomas in patients taking hormonal oral contraceptives. Am J Clin Pathol. 1968 Jan;49(1):52–59. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/49.1.52. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hertz R. The problem of possible effects of oral contraceptives on cancer of the breast. Cancer. 1969 Dec;24(6):1140–1145. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196912)24:6<1140::aid-cncr2820240611>3.0.co;2-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kay C. R. British experience of the pill. J R Coll Gen Pract. 1970 May;19(94):251–257. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Leis H. P., Jr The pill and the breast. N Y State J Med. 1970 Dec 1;70(23):2911–2918. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lowe C. R., MacMahon B. Breast cancer and reproductive history of women in South Wales. Lancet. 1970 Jan 24;1(7639):153–156. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)90401-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pike M. C., Morrow R. H. Statistical analysis of patient-control studies in epidemiology. Factor under investigation an all-or-none variable. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1970 Feb;24(1):42–44. doi: 10.1136/jech.24.1.42. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Shapiro S., Strax P., Venet L., Fink R. The search for risk factors in breast cancer. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1968 May;58(5):820–835. doi: 10.2105/ajph.58.5.820. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Valaoras V. G., MacMahon B., Trichopoulos D., Polychronopoulou A. Lactation and reproductive histories of breast cancer patients in greater Athens, 1965-67. Int J Cancer. 1969 May 15;4(3):350–363. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910040312. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Vessey M. P., Doll R., Sutton P. M. Investigation of the possible relationship between oral contraceptives and benign and malignant breast disease. Cancer. 1971 Dec;28(6):1395–1399. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1395::aid-cncr2820280610>3.0.co;2-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Vessey M. P. Some methodological problems in the investigation of rare adverse reactions to oral contraceptives. Am J Epidemiol. 1971 Sep;94(3):202–209. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121313. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Zippin C., Petrakis N. L. Identification of high risk groups in breast cancer. Cancer. 1971 Dec;28(6):1381–1387. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1381::aid-cncr2820280607>3.0.co;2-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES