NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee appointed by the members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. In this, the Institute acts under both the Academy's 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an adviser to the federal government and its own initiative in identifying issues of medical care, research, and education.

Support for this study was provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, pursuant to Contract No. N01-HD-9-2925.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Committee on the Relationship Between Oral Contraceptives and Breast Cancer.

Oral contraceptives and breast cancer / Committee on the Relationship Between Oral Contraceptives and Breast Cancer, Institute of Medicine, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Breast—Cancer—Epidemiology—Congresses. 2. Oral contraceptives—Side effects—Congresses. I. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Breast Neoplasms—chemically induced. 2. Contraceptives, Oral—adverse effects. 3. Risk Factors. WP 870 I575o]

RA645.C3I57 1991

616.99'449071—dc20

DNLM/DLC

for Library of Congress

91-19679

CIP

The serpent has been a symbol of long life, healing, and knowledge among almost all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history. The image adopted as a logotype by the Institute of Medicine is based on a relief carving from Ancient Greece, now held by the Staatlichemuseen in Berlin.