# Breast Cancer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 6, 2000, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-cancer/805 "2000-03-06T22:35:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-cancer/805/21 "2000-03-10T06:15:00Z")
I want to clarify a statement I made last night: > [@](#): > > But the consequences of keeping an eye on it, even for a few cycles, can be deadly. to read: But the consequences of **just** keeping an eye on it, **(as opposed to aggressively investigating it)** even for a few cycles, can be deadly. Certainly, I did not mean to imply one should not at least “keep an eye on it”. Rather I meant this was an inadequate response to a lump in a young woman under many circumstances. Observing it through one cycle to see if it varies in size with relation to altering hormone levels (features of a benign mass) is reasonable. Waiting 3 months to re-examine it for interval growth is not. - Sue ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-cancer/805/22 "2000-03-10T06:53:00Z")
> [@](#): > > ## Originally posted by **Loren Pechtel** : quoting **Jill** > > ## It appears to be safe to stay on them all month long and never menstruate, too, if you’re comfortable with that. > > Would not that be the same case as post-menopausal women taking estrogen-only hormone replacement? The latter is not a good idea as it builds up the endometrial lining too much–the system is designed for monthly flushing, the lining doesn’t have much cancer resistance. Build it up too much and you run a risk of cancer developing. No, because OCPs (Oral Contraceptive Pills) are a combination estrogen/progestin. So taking them continuously is just like taking continuous estrogen & progestin after menopause, except that the post-menopause replacement levels are lower than natural pre-menopausal levels on average, and OCPs prvide higher than natural levels in order to suppress ovulation. The progesterone protects against continued endometrial proliferation that can lead to Endometrial Cancer. I had heard of world class athletes using OCPs in a continuous fashion to avoid cyclic changes that would affect their training & performance, but had not heard that the practice was widespread. - Sue ---
**Author:** ![domina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@domina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domina)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-cancer/805/23 "2000-03-11T05:04:00Z")
There’s an interesting article on the subject of birth-control pills and breast cancer in the March 13 issue of the New Yorker. In regard to kayo’s question about how a mere 120 periods that a 20-year-old would have could increase her risk of cancer, the article points out that a woman in a non-industrial society can well have that number of periods _in a lifetime,_ what with late menstruation, many childbirths and long lactation periods. ---
**Author:** ![suiyobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@suiyobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suiyobi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-cancer/805/24 "2000-03-11T23:45:00Z")
anybody remember that documentary, “Rachel’s Daughters,” that aired on HBO a few years ago? one woman oncologist investigated a link between cancer and use of the microwave to heat liquids-- had nothing to do with the microwave, but rather with the plastic containers used therein: long-chained plastic molecules are easily broken off into your beverage, resulting in that ‘plasticky’ taste, and when heat enters the picture (as the story goes w/the doc), a hormone is synthesized, ready for consumption when the 0:00 flashes and the buzzer chimes. now this documentary may be a bit dated, but how about it, BB MDs?-- plastic+microwave=recent uptick/plateau of breast cancer? what say you? * * * the hog squeal of the universe is coming from my modem! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-cancer/805/25 "2000-03-11T23:52:00Z")
Oh, I’ve been meaning to post a couple of unpaid political announcements about breast cancer for a while. 1. If you, or someone you know, has breast cancer (or any other kind of cancer) and are interested in participating in clinical trials, there is a new website up that can help you find trials in your state & descibe the experimental treatment, list eligiblity criteria & give names & phone numbers for who to contact. AFAIK, it only lists government=sponsored trials, though, so ask your doctor about others as well. the site is: [http://www.clinicaltrials.gov](http://www.clinicaltrials.gov) 1. If you just want to help out with the breast cancer effort, the USPS has a first-ever program to sell stamps for more than the going rate & provide the money raised by these stamps to breast cancer research programs. The stamps go for 40¢ IIRC, and are in their 2nd printing. They have been out for about 1 1/2 years. - Sue [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breast-cancer/805.md?page=1)