Sandhya Raghavan
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Written By: Sandhya Raghavan | Updated : October 29, 2017 1:21 AM IST
Introduced in the 1960s, OCPs or oral contraceptive pills have been giving women autonomy over their sex lives and empowering them to make decisions related to childbearing themselves. More importantly, in what can be seen as a giant leap for womankind, it liberated them from being dependent on men for contraception. While the pill, as it is endearingly called, is safe for a vast majority of women, there have been concerns related to its safety in the recent years. One of the biggest questions that women want answered is whether the trust OCP could be held responsible for breast cancer, one of the commonest types of cancer that occurs in women.
The combined OCP, which contains a combination of oestrogen and progesterone, is thought to promote the occurrence of breast cancer in women because the breast tissue is vulnerable to female steroidal hormone. Oestrogen is said to cause the proliferation of breast tissues, which can increase the breast cancer risk by stimulating the growth of stem cells and intermediate cells. Although there is little scientific evidence of breast cancer risk in pill users, there is considerable paranoia related to the use of OCPs.
(Read: All you wanted to know about vaginal ring or Nuvaring)
Dr Bandita Sinha, Gynaecologist and fertility specialist, Director, World of Women, Vashi, dispels these fears: "Contraceptive pills, when they were invented in the 1960s contained very high amounts of hormones. Back then, there used to be this fear that perhaps the pills indeed caused breast cancer. Over the years we have studied and titrated the pill according to the effects produced. When a high dose pill was give, certain undesirable side effects such as weight gain were seen. Then we decided to reduce the dosage of the pill, say around 30mg. While the side effects were reduced, the contraceptive effect of the pill stayed the same. We kept bringing down the strength of the medicine all the while ensuring that it retained its contraceptive functions. So, today the pills that are prescribed are of very low strength. The chances of the pill causing breast cancer in women today are quite slim or negligible."
Can someone with a family history of breast cancer take OCPS?
It is established that the pill itself cannot increase the breast cancer risk. But can the ones who have a history of cancer in the family confidently take the pill? To which the doctor says that pill is not prescribed recklessly by gynaecologists consider factors like family history of breast cancer and age of the patient before doing so. "Even if the person has a risk of breast cancer, a very low dose of the pill is prescribed and that too for a very short duration. But sometimes, the patient may end up taking the pill ten years without consulting the doctor. In such cases, it is impossible to say whether it can end up causing breast cancer," says Dr Sinha. "A family history of early incidence of breast cancer, in the 30s or 40s, is something that we are cautious of. If women in the patient's family contract breast cancer in the 50s, it is not something to worry about."
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