Is oral contraceptive pill fuelling prostate cancer?

oral contraceptive pill The Pill became publicly available in the 1960s and remains a popular choice of contraceptive
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Scientists say research is needed to ascertain if oral contraceptive pill use could be fuelling rising prostate cancer rates.

Canadian investigators told the BMJ that they have found a possible link.

But experts stress this is not proof that one causes the other and it might be a fluke finding.

The researchers believe oestrogen by-products excreted in the urine of pill-users may have contaminated the food chain and drinking water.

The hormone is known to feed the growth of certain cancers.

The latest investigation looked at data from 2007 for individual nations and continents worldwide to see if there was any link.

The researchers found a significant association between contraceptive pill use in the population as a whole with both the number of new cases of, and deaths from, prostate cancer.

This link was irrespective of the nation's wealth, suggesting it might not be down to better disease detection in more affluent countries that also tend to have higher rates of oral contraceptive use.

And it was strongest in Europe.

Additionally, they found no link between prostate cancer and other forms of contraception, like the coil, suggesting it is not something that is sexually transmitted or associated with intercourse itself.

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