New Contraceptive Pill cuts Breast Cancer
New Contraceptive Pill cuts Breast Cancer Here we go again! Potentially good news, in that this new pill works in a different way to the old combined pill, which mimiced pregnancy using progest and oest and therefore theoretically stimulating the breast which has receptors for these hormones. The new pill (in higher doses the abortion pill) stops periods altogether and works by blocking these hormones and therefore potentially could cut the incidence of breast cancer. Too late for us for maybe good news for our daughters. Too early to tell probably…
I am confused . . . . . . . . about the hype for this new pill. Saw it discussed on GMTV today and I thought they said that there was no progesterone in it and this reduced the risk of breast cancer. My previous understanding has been that it is one of the oestrogens that is the baddy and progesterone is an antagonist to oestrogen - therefore the goody. Can someone explain please why not putting progesterone in a pill is going to reduce breast cancer? Presumably there is still oestrogen in this pill and surely it is that that contributes to breast cancer incidence?
Wynthorpe
what I heard I half listened to the reports on this while in the shower. Don’t understand the chemistry of the pill but I think the report said it blocks the production of progesterone. Women who take it would stop having periods.
Anyway the drug is just going into Phase 2 trials…it is only after Phase 3 trials that a drug becomes available for general use…this could be in 5 years time minimum.
So far it sounds as though taking this pill reduces the risk of breast cancer so presumably this means that in the phase 1 trials more of those who took the pill didn’t get bc than among those who took the placebo. Long term side effects not known yet…could be implications for the womb.
I think this sounds like an interesting development which like other bits of research gets hyped and distorted in the media.
Another weary thought thought is this: why is all the reserach looking at prevention of hormone stimulated breast cancer? Where is the research on bc which is hormone negative…well I know the answer to that one…its barely at the starting block.
Jane
Hype I’ve seen some information suggesting only animal work and phase 2 studies with 90 and 97 patientsso far.
Yet (as usual) we get the headline (The Times I gather) " A Contraceptive pill that can beat cancer" - suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.
I second Jane on the ER- I have to chortle quietly to myself on hearing this news today, my gp told me when I first went to him for the pill that if I took it it would greatly reduce my chances of getting ovarian cancer in later life. I went on to take it for 9 years, progesterone + breast cancer instead.
I did like the way it was played down by one reporter today who said that we only had to look at the men taking part in the disastrous trial last week to see that this is a very early stage in the trial for these drugs and there is still much more work to be done before it can be pronounced any type of wonderdrug.
Press hype is alive and well and about as accurate as a secondhand watch as usual.
Steph x