Researchers from a U.N. cancer agency are calling combined estrogen-progestin birth control pills and menopausal hormone replacement “carcinogenic to humans."However, they don’t dismiss either type of drug. For instance, they state that birth control pills may “slightly” raise the risk of some cancers while lowering risks of other cancers.Women should weigh the drugs’ risks and benefits with their doctors, write the researchers. The report appears in The Lancet Oncology. The researchers included Vincent Cogliano, PhD, of the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
