A case-control study of oral contraceptive use and incident breast cancer

Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Feb 15;169(4):473-9. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwn360. Epub 2008 Dec 13.

Abstract

Oral contraceptive (OC) use has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer, largely on the basis of studies conducted before 1990. In the Case-Control Surveillance Study, a US hospital-based case-control study of medication use and cancer, the authors assessed the relation of OC use to breast cancer risk among 907 case women with incident invasive breast cancer (731 white, 176 black) and 1,711 controls (1,152 white, 559 black) interviewed from 1993 to 2007. They evaluated whether the association differed by ethnicity or tumor hormone receptor status. After control for breast cancer risk factors, the multivariable odds ratio for 1 year or more of OC use, relative to less than 1 year of use, was 1.5 (95% confidence interval: 1.2, 1.8). The estimates were similar within age strata (<50 years and >or= 50 years). The odds ratios were larger for use within the previous 10 years, long-duration use, and black ethnicity, but these differences were not statistically significant. The association of OC use with breast cancer risk did not differ according to the estrogen or progestogen receptor status of the tumor. These results suggest that OC use is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer diagnosed in recent years.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Breast Neoplasms / chemically induced*
  • Breast Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Contraceptives, Oral / adverse effects*
  • Ethnicity
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Logistic Models
  • Middle Aged
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Receptors, Progesterone
  • Risk Factors
  • Time Factors
  • United States / epidemiology
  • White People / statistics & numerical data

Substances

  • Contraceptives, Oral
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Receptors, Progesterone