“The risk does decline over time since ceasing their use,” said Hunter, highlighting that once women reach the age when breast cancer rates peak — ages 50 to 70 — they are not very influenced by whether they took the hormonal contraceptives.
Nearly 10 million American women use oral contraceptives, including about 1.5 million who rely on them for reasons other than birth control. The number of women in the United States with intrauterine devices, many of which release hormones, has grown in recent years, as has the number of women using other types of hormonal contraceptive implants.
Experts noted that oral contraceptives have some benefits as well, and are associated with reductions in ovarian, endometrial and possibly colorectal cancers later in life.