“Breast cancer has now overtaken lung cancer as the world’s most commonly-diagnosed cancer,” reads a February 3 press release from the World Health Organization (WHO). The occasion for the press release was to mark World Cancer Day 2021 on February 4. Overall, the news was not good:
“In the past two decades, the overall number of people diagnosed with cancer nearly doubled, from an estimated 10 million in 2000 to 19.3 million in 2020. Today, one in 5 people worldwide will develop cancer during their lifetime. Projections suggest that the number of people being diagnosed with cancer will increase still further in the coming years, and will be nearly 50% higher in 2040 than in 2020.”
Breast cancer risk and birth control: The unmentioned connection
The WHO press release also highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the global cancer burden, leading to later-stage diagnoses and decreased access to timely treatments. The WHO is urging their partners and stakeholders to take immediate action to combat rising cancer rates, and particularly rates of breast cancer, by “promoting breast health, improving timely cancer detection and ensuring access to quality care.” While these goals are admirable and necessary, the goal of promoting breast health is greatly undermined by another campaign of the World Health Organization—encouraging widespread use of hormonal contraceptives. Not only does the press release fail to mention the increased risk of breast cancer with frequently prescribed drugs such as the birth control pill, shot, patch, and vaginal rings, the WHO avoids mentioning the increased risk on pages that recommend birth control use. On the WHO’s dedicated webpage for contraception, there is no mention of cancer risk; instead the WHO doubles down on their perceived need to promote greater access to contraceptives across the globe:
“The Sustainable Development Goals set for 2030 will need to ensure that sexual and reproductive health services are widely available and used. This includes supporting contraceptive services through effective government policies and the provision of high-quality services for individuals.”
To make matters worse, the WHO often promotes hormonal contraception in countries that may not have the sophisticated medical systems needed to detect and treat cancer.
Breast cancer risk and hormone exposure go hand-in-hand
As we’ve written about before here and here, the theory that hormonal contraceptives may lead to increased risk for breast cancer is not new, and it has been borne out in multiple studies. One theory behind the increased risk is the increased exposure to (synthetic) sex hormones caused by hormonal contraceptive use. A 2017 study from the journal Evolution, Medicine, & Public Health found that “four widely prescribed formulations [of hormonal contraception] more than quadruple progestin exposure relative to endogenous progesterone exposure.” [1] This makes the findings from a 2018 review from the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine unsurprising, in that, “there appears to be an increased risk of breast cancer in women using combined oral contraceptives, regardless of progestin component or monophasic versus extended cycle administration. An increased risk was also identified in levonorgestrel-only oral and nonoral products” [2].
Birth control is an endocrine disruptor
As we learn more about the role of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in our environment, it has become increasingly clear that one’s risk of developing cancer is not merely a matter of genetics. This is especially true of hormone-sensitive cancers like breast cancer. As a 2013 paper from the Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia states: “In both humans and rodent models, environmental factors that act as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have been shown to disrupt normal mammary development and lead to adverse lifelong consequences, especially when exposures occur during early life” [3]. Given the connection between hormone exposure and breast cancer risk, there has been a push in recent years to limit exposure to potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA). Yet despite that the very purpose of hormonal birth control is to alter the actions of the endocrine system—making it quite literally a doctor-prescribed endocrine disruptor—there has not been the same push to limit exposure to the synthetic hormones found in birth control. Instead we see quite the opposite.
Promoting the science of fertility awareness helps combat breast cancer
Health organizations that are truly serious about combating all of the factors that may be contributing to increased rates of breast cancer across the globe should encourage alternate forms of family planning that do not involve the use of carcinogenic synthetic hormones. Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) are safe, evidence-based, highly effective methods of family planning that do not require exposure to harmful synthetic hormones.
The CDC cites research showing that certain fertility awareness methods have as low as a 2% failure rate, revealing an effectiveness rate in pregnancy prevention that rivals (and even outperforms) the rates of some of the most highly prescribed contraceptives, like the Pill. Of fertility awareness methods as a whole, the CDC says “Failure rates vary across these methods. Range of typical use failure rates: 2-23%.” The wide range in that figure reflects the variety of methods included in the research analysis, as the study included less effective calendar-based methods alongside more effective symptom-based methods of fertility awareness in its analysis. Most of the established modern fertility awareness methods—such as the Billings method, the Sympto-Thermal Method, the Creighton Method, and the Marquette Method—boast failure rates at 1% or lower for perfect use, and 10% or lower for typical use (read more on the exact rates for each particular fertility awareness method here).
FAMs have also been effectively taught to women and couples of all literacy levels across the world, including the visually impaired, and have the potential to meaningfully advance true gender equality and better, more comprehensive women’s health. The beauty of promoting fertility awareness is that it serves a dual purpose of promoting better health, and providing effective family planning options—all at the same time. FAMs prove that truly furthering women’s health does not require the tradeoff between increasing their breast cancer risk and providing them with effective family planning.
References:
[1] Lovett J, Chima M, Wexler J et al. Oral contraceptives cause evolutionarily novel increases in hormone exposure. Evol Med Public Health. 2017;2017(1):97-108. doi:10.1093/emph/eox009, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28685096/
[2] White N. Hormonal Contraception and Breast Cancer Risk. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2018;12(3):224-226. doi:10.1177/1559827618754833, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6124967/
[3] Macon M, Fenton S. Endocrine Disruptors and the Breast: Early Life Effects and Later Life Disease. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. 2013;18(1):43-61. doi:10.1007/s10911-013-9275-7, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3682794/
Additional Reading
Study Links Hormonal Birth Control to Increased Risk of Breast Cancer
Hormonal Contraceptives Increase Breast Cancer Risk: A Doctor’s Report on Why
Fight breast cancer with fertility awareness
Who cares about breast cancer?
3 Simple Tips to Limit Endocrine Disruptors and Balance Hormones Naturally
If We’re Concerned about BPA, We Should Be Concerned about Hormonal Birth Control
One behavior not mentioned is breastfeeding; research has proved that breastfeeding reduces breast cancer. When there is a list of risks for breast cancer, formula feeding should be on that list.
I will do my part and disseminate this info to all the young girls I know. Thank you for researching and reporting on this very important danger to the feminine genius.