A study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reports a constellation of factors that increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer, including the use of oral contraceptives.
The department of gastroenterology and human nutrition unit of the AIIMS conducted the study on 640 women outpatients, half of whom had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. The data was published n the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Cancer, India Today reports. The medical institute conducted the study to investigate the association of various reproductive factors with breast cancer. Factors investigated include age at marriage, age at the birth of a first child, duration of breast feeding, abortion, and use of oral contraceptives.
The study found that the risk of breast cancer was 9.50 times higher in women with a history of use of oral contraceptive pills, according to Dr. Umesh Kapil, of the Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition Unit. Dr. Kapil is one of the authors of the study, India Today reports. The newspaper reports that researchers have suggested lactation might reduce breast cancer risk by temporarily ridding the breasts of potential chemical carcinogens.
“A history of abortion was also found to be positively associated with the risk of breast cancer with the risk going up by 6.26 times. The risk of breast cancer increased 14.9 and 3.29 times in women having mean duration of breastfeeding less than 13 months and the last childbirth at more than 27 years of age, respectively,” Kapil said, according to India Today.
