Depo-Provera Boosts Risk of Breast Cancer

A contraceptive medication has unwelcome hazards. Depo-Provera is injected every three months to provide long-lasting protection from pregnancy. The ingredient, medroxyprogesterone, is the same synthetic form of progesterone found in the hormone replacement therapy PremPro. Epidemiologists found that women using this form of birth control were twice as likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer. The rates were low for young, healthy women, but reinforce the concern that synthetic progestin may pose a problem for the breast.

[Cancer Research, online, Feb. 27, 2012]