On Tiktok and X, some videos reach several million views with this alarmist message: “WHO has just said that the pill is carcinogenic like tobacco or asbestos ““It increases the risk of breast cancer by 30 % ““we poison each day “. What seriously worry thousands of women. However, behind this assertion, scientific reality is much more nuanced. Explanations.
Yes, the combined pill has been classified carcinogen for 20 years
First element to know, what is said is in no way a new announcement of the World Health Organization (WHO °. It was actually in 2005 (therefore 20 years ago) that the International Center for Research on Cancer (CIRC), an WHO agency, has classified certain combined contraceptive pills (combining estrogen and progestin) in the category of group 1. been established in humans.
But beware: this classification means that a link has been scientifically observed, not that the product is as dangerous as asbestos or cigarettes. In other words, the combined pills are associate at a risk, but not equivalent to toxicity to other substances in this group.
It should also be remembered that these are not all contraceptive pills: this classification only concerns combined pills. Microdosed pills, containing only progesterone, are not affected. “In France, it is the combined pills that are the most prescribed, but they are never given first intention to women with history of cancer. This choice is part of the precautions systematically taken by the prescribers” explains Odile Bagot, gynecologist.
A weak mismanagement … and to interpret with caution
What Internet users fear is mainly breast cancer. For a good reason: a study published in 2023 in Plos Medicine has shown that the use of oral contraceptives – combined or not – was associated with an increase in the risk of breast cancer from 20 to 30 %. But this relative figure can be confusing. In reality, as Professor Gillian Reeves recalls, the co-author of the study, this over-risk remains modest in absolute terms: the risk goes for example from 11 % to around 14 %.
A study to be taken back, underlined Dr. Odile Bagot in a previous article: “There is often a bias in this type of study. Indeed, the more women have late children, the longer they take this contraception, the more they have an increased risk of breast cancer. Conversely, women who stop young people this contraceptive means present less risk. “
She adds that this sur-risk mainly concerns women over 40, “to whom we no longer prescribe a combined pill due to the vascular risk”. For younger women, the balance remains largely favorable.
Important profits, including against certain cancers
Like any medication, the pill is not exempt from risks. But it also has many beneficial effects. In addition to its role in the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, it reduces pain related to endometriosis, acne, abundant rules, certain inflammatory diseases … and, above all, it paradoxically protects you from several cancers.
“Estroprogestative methods decrease the risk of ovarian and endometrium cancer” says Dr. Bagot. “These protective effects are well documented by many studies”.
The vidal for its part estimates that the pill reduces by 30 to 50 % the risks of cancer of the endometrium and the ovary, and by 20 % those of the colon and the rectum. The National College of French Gynecologists and Obstetricians (CNGOF) also concluded in 2017 that the balance of the pill was left ‘very favorable for the majority of patients‘Recalling that the serious side effects are rare and well known to the prescribers.
In summary, the classification of the pill as a group 1 carcinogen is not new and does not mean that it is as dangerous as asbestos or tobacco. The risks exist, but they are weak and well understood. There are many profits, including in terms of prevention of certain cancers.
As Dr. Odile Bagot sums it up: “Don’t panic. The balance remains on the side of the profit, including carcinological, in users under 40 years of age “.