A new Danish study finds that the use of hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs) is associated with a slightly higher risk of breast cancer in women aged 15 to 49. The research indicates that women using hormonal IUD contraceptives have a 40 percent higher chance of developing breast cancer compared to nonusers. This increase sounds high, but breast cancer is still rare in younger women.
For perspective, this 40 percent higher chance means about 14 extra cases of breast cancer per 10,000 women using hormonal IUDs, on top of the baseline risk for this age group. “We are much more confident that this is an association that we should take seriously,” lead author Lina Steinrud Mørch, who holds a doctorate in public health and is a team leader at the Danish Cancer Institute, told The Epoch Times. “I think the take-home message would be that .
.. a hormone IUD is not only working locally [in the reproductive system], they are also working systematically in the body,” Mørch said.
“And that’s very important information because a lot of women have been choosing that product due to the assumption that it would be working only locally,” she added. The researchers tracked a cohort of 157,190 women (half IUD users and half nonusers) aged 15 to 49 for up to 15 years, during which approximately 1.03 percent of women were diagnosed with breast cancer.
Researchers found that hormonal IUD use increased breast cancer risk by 40 percent, indicating a risk of 14 additional cases.
