I've written before about all the ways the birth control pill improves your health, especially how the pill helps prevent ovarian cancer. But I have a difficult time persuading some patients that the benefits of the pill far outweigh the risks (scary media coverage doesn't help). And one of the biggest fears they have is about breast cancer. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of the pill on our breasts, and the results have been conflicting. One good study from 1996 found that women who were current or recent users of birth control pills had a slightly elevated risk of developing breast cancer.

However, ten or more years after women stopped using the pill, their risk of developing breast cancer returned to the same level as if they had never used the pill at all. Some researchers think that this comes from greater detection of cancer in women on the pill--since you need a prescription for it, pill users are getting regular medical care, and hence more breast exams. But another excellent study in 2002 found that current or former pill use was not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Overall, most studies have not found an increased risk of breast cancer in pill users.

So what should you take away from all this? Most of the research done to-date doesn't make a strong case for a link between breast cancer and the pill. And we know that using the pill does protect you against ovarian and endometrial cancer. In a way, then, if you're worried about cancer, the best thing you can do is to start the birth control pill. Do any of you have worries about cancer and the pill?