Mayo Clinic confirms 'Pill' link to breast cancer

For years, public health officials have been avoiding any alarming statements about links between the 'pill' and breast cancer. Such links, along with links between abortion and cancer, have been a matter of public debate in the private sector for some years. Yet anecdotal evidence of such links has existed within the medical profession for some time. Michael Forrest just sent me the following example of an email he received from a friend:

Guys,

I had a very interesting conversation with one of our MRI techs at the hospital today. Breast MRI's are becoming widely used to diagnose breast cancer. Usually an ultrasound or mammogram detects something suspicious and the MRI is used to confirm a diagnosis.

Anywayz, I was looking at the report for a breast MRI patient today and I noticed something peculiar that the radiologist stuck at the beginning to his report. It said: "Patient has a history of oral-contraceptive use over four years beginning at age 17."

Intrigued by the candid admission, I called the MRI tech over and asked her about it. I said I thought it was interesting that a board certified MD chose to put that in the report even though there are vehement denials in the medical community about the contraceptive/breast cancer link. She very bluntly said, "Of course there's a link, we know there's a link."

It would be interesting to find out where the radiologists are getting their info from, but this at least shows hope that the medical community is no longer hiding their eyes on this issue. If we can get more info from radiologists like this out, Planned Parenthood and others will, hopefully, have nothing to hide behind.

Then, today, comes the announcement that the Mayo Clinic has confirmed the link. The morning edition post from WorldNetDaily (November 22, 2006) carries the title: "'Pill' causes breast cancer? 'Measurable and statistically significant' connection confirmed." The article states:

A new study from the Mayo Clinic has concluded that there is "a measurable and statistically significant" connection between the pill and pre-menopausal breast cancer, re-enforcing the recent classification of oral contraceptives as Type 1 carcinogens.

That ruling from the International Agency for Cancer Research was supported by the report published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings this month that comes even as Breast Cancer Awareness Month is being highlighted by pink ribbons, pink soup cans and other promotional devices.

However, the study that found that the risk association was 44 percent over baseline among women who had been pregnant who took oral contraceptives prior to their first pregnancy has been, to a large degree, ignored by many media organizations.

The study is available online through the Mayo Clinic or at the Polycarp Research Institute.

[Hat tip to Michael Forrest]