Women that take high-dose estrogen birth control pills are 50 percent likelier to develop breast cancer.

A just published study in Cancer Research making this claim also said women using other formulations of the birth control pill that used low-dose estrogen were not found to be at increased risk.

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Women currently have a one-in-seven chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.

The combined oral contraceptive pill or the pill is a birth control method that includes a combination of an estrogen (estradiol) and a progestogen (progestin).

The Cancer Research study believes the odds of a woman developing breast cancer might increase when coupled with high-estrogen pills and her genetic history.

This risk was highest in women who recently used birth control pills containing high doses of estrogen. The study also pointed out that women with breast cancer are more likely to have a history of breast cancer among female relatives in their family.

It suggests that recent use of current oral contraceptives with high-estrogen concentrations might put women ages 20 to 49 at higher risk for breast cancer.

On the other hand, low-dose formulations might not be linked to a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

The results, however, have to be confirmed. Experts said the Cancer Research study has results almost similar to other studies.

New information suggests that higher estrogen doses in some birth control pills currently on the market are linked to a higher risk for breast cancer.

The Cancer Research study involved 1,102 women in the Seattle-Puget Sound area. These women, 20 to 49 years of age, were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1990 and 2009.

The study also recruited 21,952 women who had not developed breast cancer.

The scientists found that women who had taken high-estrogen oral contraceptives in the past year were 50 percent more likely to have developed breast cancer compared to at-risk women who formerly took them and with women who had never taken pills at all.

Estrogens are the primary female sex hormones. They are a group of compounds named for their importance in both menstrual and estrous reproductive cycles.

Estrogens are used in some oral contraceptives, in estrogen replacement therapy for postmenopausal women and in hormone replacement therapy for trans women.

Cancer Research is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association for Cancer Research.