Is the combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP) contraindicated in women with a family history of breast cancer?
No. Family history is ONLY relevant if primary relatives have experienced breast cancer prior to the menopause. With a positive family history, the base-line risk may be two or three-fold higher. Although the baseline rate is higher, the effect of combined OCP is no different for women with or without a family history. In other words, because of their family history, combined OCP users with a positive family history have a slightly increased risk (estimates suggest that they may experience 6 to 9 cases of breast cancer per 1000 women up to age 35 rather than 3 cases per 1000 women in the general population up to age 35).
Related Questions
- Is the combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP) contraindicated in women with a family history of venous thrombo-embolism disease?
- Is the combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP) contraindicated in women with a family history of breast cancer?
- Is the combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP) contraindicated in women with a family history of heart disease?
