LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Links to increased risk for breast cancer have been known for years surrounding the most common hormonal birth control combination of progestin and estrogen. Now, a new study included progestin-only forms of contraception.
Dr. Rachel Saunders, assistant professor and OB-GYN with UK Healthcare, says there is a right and wrong way to interpret the studies that sometimes come across social media feeds.
"Social media is great because there's so much information that's really easily accessible, but again, information has to be taken with a little bit of context and understanding how to interpret that data," said Saunders.
A new study from the Public Library of Science, based in Europe, has recently garnered attention for its research that progestin-only forms of contraception can increase breast cancer risk by 20 to 30%.
Saunders says it can be easily misinterpreted to be alarming. However, a person's actual risk would be much smaller.
"It's important to look at two different things. One is your relative risk versus your actual risk. And so, your relative risk means if you're doing something and the next person to you is not, what is the chance that something bad is going to happen? Because you're doing this thing and your neighbor is not," said Saunders. "You have to look at what are your chances of actually getting breast cancer.
She says if the data from the study is correct, then with context, the study means that taking all forms of birth control, the typical person's actual risk over a lifetime is 1.2 in every 8 women.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the lifetime risk of breast cancer in women in the U.S. is 1 in 8, or 12.83%, based on statistics for 2014 through 2016.
Black women are at higher risk for breast cancer and also have higher death rates.
Saunders says personal risk factors like that are why people should not generalize what would be best for them.
"Being on birth control, yes, may slightly increase your risk for breast cancer, but it decreases your risk for ovarian cancer, colon cancer and uterine cancer. So when you look at your lifetime risks for all these cancers, it may come out that it's better for you to be on hormonal contraceptive than not," said Saunders.
For more women's health information with context, you can follow Dr. Saunders on Instagram @saundersr_obgyn.
Google searches in Kentucky for birth control spiked last June around the time Roe v. Wade was overturned.
So did queries for cancer with that search.
