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New information on the possible link between breast cancer and progestogen
A research team from INSERM – the French Medical Research Council – has shown that non-menopausal women who use a progestogen-only pill, ie one not combined with oestrogen, seem to be at greater risk of developing breast cancer than those who don’t.
But this risk seems to disappear once they stop taking the pill. Different studies had already shown that combined synthetic oestrogens and progestogens increased the risk of breast cancer among certain menopausal women but the question of whether the risk of developing breast cancer was affected by taking progestogen only, and before the menopause, remained unanswered.
Françoise Clavel-Chapelon’s team has provided some initial evidence in this respect. “Women using progestogen-only pills for more than 4.5 years after the age of 40 and before the menopause appear to have a 44% higher risk of developing breast cancer than those not following this treatment”. This increased risk seems to be linked to the promotional effect (of progestogens) on cancer cells”. In other words, when taken alone these substances may accelerate the proliferation of cancer cells.
On the other hand, it is very important to point out that this increase in the level of risk seems to disappear once progestogen intake is stopped. And, according to the researchers, this is true “regardless of the earlier duration of the treatment”. These conclusions derive from a prospective cohort study involving around 100,000 members of the MGEN (France’s top mutual insurance company) born between 1925 and 1950 and monitored since 1990.
The results are of interest to a large number of women. Indeed INSERM points out that oral progestogens have been prescribed for many years to treat a large number of medical problems: as a contraceptive (27% of those prescribed); for breast pain (47%); for the treatment of uterine disorders (29%); for perimenopausal problems (57%); for benign breast conditions (20%); and in cases of premenstrual syndrome (38%).
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