Contraceptive steroids and breast cancer.

The prognosis and pathological findings in 44 patients with breast cancer who had taken contraceptive steroids during the year before diagnosis were compared with those in 44 controls matched for age and parity. No significant differences between the two groups were found in the histological features of the tumour or extent of axillary lymph-node disease. In patients with axillary node disease the recurrence rate in the controls was significantly higher than in the study group and more of the control patients had died. It is concluded that oral contraceptives have no untoward effect on the prognosis of breast cancer.