Oral Contraceptives "linked" to Triple Negative BC

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defeatbc
defeatbc Member Posts: 53
edited June 2014 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Have you ladies seen this?

http://www.fhcrc.org/about/pubs/center_news/online/2009/05/Oral_contraceptives_and_breast_cancer.html 

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  • Rachel_BC
    Rachel_BC Member Posts: 1,386
    edited October 2009

    The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center????

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  • defeatbc
    defeatbc Member Posts: 53
    edited October 2009

    I'm not familiar with the center, but here's the Wiki on it:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hutchinson_Cancer_Research_Center 

    As for the research, it was mentioned on tnbcfoundation.org how surprising it was that the link was with hormone receptor negative bc, but not with hormone receptor positive bc.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2009

    I am not triple negative, but live in Seattle.  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is a huge cancer research facility in the US - one of the largest.  I am treated at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance which is part of Fred Hutch (as it is called locally!) and University of Washington Medical Center. 

    Many of the breast cancer research studies are done by Fred Hutch.

    I find it so strange that there would be a link of taking hormones to hormone negative bc...

    Anyway, just wanted to give you some info on Fred Hutchinson!

    April

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  • Karen09
    Karen09 Member Posts: 320
    edited October 2009

    I'm triple negative and I've never take birth control pills. 

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  • hollyann
    hollyann Member Posts: 2,992
    edited October 2009

    I am ER/PR positive and HER2NEU neg and took birth control pills..........According to the news on ABC I saw the other day with our dear sweet Hannah on it, Triple Negative BC is caused by the environment......First time I ever heard this!......I thought if we knew the cause we'd find the cure....Guess I was wrong.......

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  • unklezwifeonty
    unklezwifeonty Member Posts: 1,710
    edited October 2009

    I took OrthoCept for 2 years when I was 26 and for 1 year when I was 32. Do I have a law suit?

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  • carolinachick
    carolinachick Member Posts: 387
    edited October 2009

    I don't believe that all tn is environmental.  Many women with tnbc also have BRCA-1 or -2 mutations, which is clearly genetic.  I don't know that those of us without the mutation will ever know exactly what caused our cancer.

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  • Raye99
    Raye99 Member Posts: 1,350
    edited October 2009

    I agree with Carolinacheck in that we will never know for sure what causes our cancer. Triple Negative apparently is a grouping of us who are not ER+/PR+. On the other hand, I always have had a strong suspicion that birth control pills had something to do with my cancer (even though I am trip. neg, which doesn't make sense logically). I took them on and off for almost 20 years. Interestingly enough, four months after I stopped taking the Pill, I found a huge lump in my breast that came out of nowhere.

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  • defeatbc
    defeatbc Member Posts: 53
    edited October 2009

    I'm no expert, but I did read somewhere (don't recall where, I'll have to look it up!) that oral contraceptives can cause changes in breast tissue. 

    In theory, this can increase the number of cellular mutations.  Our immune system normally gets rid of these bad cells.  For some unknown (and unlucky) reasons, one of those mutated cells finds its niche, bypasses the immune system, becomes cancerous and possbly continues to mutate.

    If that is the case, oral contraceptives can still promote pre-cancerous breast changes that lead to ER/PR negative BC.  This would have more to do with excellerated breast changes (especially in young women), and less to do with ER/PR status.

    Again, I'm not an expert on this.  If any of you know more about this, please elaborate!  This is a really intriguing topic.

    Hoa (defeatbc)

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  • slanderson
    slanderson Member Posts: 152
    edited October 2009

    Hi girls,

    I am triple neg., more than 4 years out.  I have tried to tell my onc that I thought my bc pills had something to do with my bc.  I took them from age 21 to 30.  Got off of them to have a baby.  Never got back on.  No problems.  Then when I got re-married at age 41, I didn't want to worry about being on my period on my honeymoon.  So I was going to take them for a month, maybe two.  Within 3 weeks of starting them, I felt a lump.  The rest is history.  Everytime I have asked a doctor about it, they say there is no link.  I think that mine just could not be a coincidence.  I just feel it deep down.  I wish I could know for sure.

    Shannon 

    p.s. I am BRCA negative, as well

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  • unklezwifeonty
    unklezwifeonty Member Posts: 1,710
    edited October 2009

    Should we hire a lawyer? LOL

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  • defeatbc
    defeatbc Member Posts: 53
    edited October 2009

    unklezwifeonty,

    Can you imagine what it would be like if the link with tri-neg bc were to be confirmed?  The contraceptive industry, and possibly the FDA, would be, "...oops... we're in deep....!"

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  • unklezwifeonty
    unklezwifeonty Member Posts: 1,710
    edited October 2009

    They will come up with convoluted counter study .... watch..

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  • slanderson
    slanderson Member Posts: 152
    edited October 2009

    I could just never understand why hormone replacement therapy could cause cancer, but bc pills can't when they are both hormones......

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  • jdash
    jdash Member Posts: 754
    edited October 2009

    me too@!  let me know what you hear ...   i would be surprised

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  • unklezwifeonty
    unklezwifeonty Member Posts: 1,710
    edited October 2009

    Any time you put something into the body that interferes with its basic function there is a possibility of some scr*w up. I'm not at all surprised to hear of the link.

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  • 123Donna
    123Donna Member Posts: 49
    edited October 2009

    I didn't take birth control pills and ended up with TNBC.  Besides having dense, fibrocystic breasts, none of the other known risk factors applied to me.  Sure would like to know the cause of TNBC.

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  • angelcakes
    angelcakes Member Posts: 22
    edited October 2009

    I don't think that birth control pills have anything to do with a woman getting triple negative breast cancer at all. because i have never used birth control pills before and yet i still got triple negative breast cancer. 

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  • zoegr
    zoegr Member Posts: 113
    edited December 2009

    I have asked my Breast Surgeon if he thinks my cancer was caused by the control pills that i had been taking for a year and he told me if that was true the half women in the world would have breast cancer. He also said that birth control pill don't create a cancerous lump but if there is a lump in the breast they can make it bigger.

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  • Karen3
    Karen3 Member Posts: 307
    edited January 2010

    I have never used birth control pills and I am triple negative - seems like a spurious connection to me .

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  • wallycat
    wallycat Member Posts: 3,227
    edited January 2010

    I took BC bills for almost 10 years and am er/pr positive.

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