Breast cancer research and awareness initiatives

Breast Cancer Research & Awareness

In a 2002 The New England Journal of Medicine article entitled "Oral contraceptives and the risk of breast cancer," Marchbanks, McDonald, Wilson, Folger, Mandel, Daling, Bernstein, Malone., Ursin, Strom, Norman, and Weiss (2002) reveal that it is not clear whether the use of oral contraceptives increases the risk of breast cancer later in life or not. A total of 4,575 women with breast cancer were interviewed for the research as well as 4,682 women for the control group. The results indicated that the risk was 1.0 for women who were currently using oral contraceptives and 0.9 for those who had used them earlier in life (2002). The relative risk didn't increase with longer time periods of use or with higher doses of estrogen -- and, the results of white and black women were very similar (2002). This is interesting evidence to consider as a plethora of research has suggested that black women are more at risk for getting certain types of cancer -- such as breast cancer. Knowing that there is a slight difference between those who have gotten breast cancer and those that have not appears to be a great opportunity to educate about breast cancer awareness.

In the article "Oral contraceptive use associated with increased risk of breast cancer in African-American women, study finds," ScienceDaily (2010) states that a Boston University School of Medicine study found that oral contraceptive users have a greater chance of developing breast cancer than non-oral contraceptive users (2010).

Marchbanks et al. (2002) reports that breast cancer in the United States is higher among white women, however, the rate of death from breast cancer is greater among black women. This may be due to a disparity in the level of care a black women receives as opposed to the level of care a white woman receives; however, this can only be speculated upon.

Black women, the study revealed, may be at a higher risk for breast cancer. This could be because black women and white women use oral contraceptives differently (Marchbanks et al., 2002). How women use oral contraceptives differently may simply come down to the time of day, frequency, etc. This information also leaves room for speculation and more research is needed to fully understand this disparity.

According to the ScienceDaily (2010) article, the increase in risk is greatest for women who have used oral contraceptives within the previous five years and whose use had lasted 10 years or more.

According to Marchbanks et al. (2002), the oldest current users of combination and progestin-only contraceptives were 54 years of age to 62 years of age. Among these women ages 45 to 64, the risk of breast cancer was not dramatically higher among the women who were currently using oral contraceptives that contained a low dose of estrogen than among those who had never used oral contraceptives (2002).

Both of these news articles discuss the risk of oral contraceptives and a woman's chance of getting breast cancer -- specifically women who are older or of a different ethnic background. Rosenberg (ScienceDaily, 20010) suggests that oral contraceptives have evolved over a great many years and thus it is relevant to discuss once again the effects of oral contraceptives on women and their likelihood of getting breast cancer.

Marchbanks et al. (2010) did conclude that either present or earlier use of oral contraceptives among women ages 35 to 64 did not increase their chances of getting breast cancer. Their research was adamant about the results, which said that oral contraceptive use does not increase the risk of breast cancer later on in life, when the chances of a women getting breast cancer is higher than when they were younger.

What also needs to be considered is that the biology of white and black women may be significantly different and thus their bodies react differently to oral contraceptives. Because of this reason (as well as numerous others) and the fact that we cannot trust that white women and black women use oral contraceptives in a different manner, more in depth studies need to be done in order to find consistent evidence that the effect of oral contraceptives on the risk of breast cancer differs between white women and black women (Marchbanks et al., 2002).

According to Marchbanks et al. (2002), there is very little evidence out there to suggest that any use (current of former) of oral contraceptives increases the risk of breast cancer.

A woman's risk of developing breast cancer is reliant on various factors (some of which are associated with her natural hormones and/or the way that the oral contraceptive works with those hormones). All women have different hormone levels no matter what ethncitiy they are and these hormone factors may play a role as well in the development of breast cancer.