The recent report of an increased risk of breast cancer in women who take antibiotics is a bit troubling, but should not prevent women from getting appropriate treatment. All drugs have risks, including antibiotics used to treat acne. These risks need to be balanced against the benefit of the drug.
The study looked at women enrolled in a managed care plan and did indeed find an increased risk of breast cancer in women who were treated with antibiotics. The risk appeared to increase with the amount of antibiotic taken, and did not appear to be related to any class or group of antibiotics. One possible explanation is that the antibiotics alter the bacteria in the bowel and somehow increase risk. If that is the case, it would argue for limited use of antibiotics. Another explanation is that women who take antibiotics have an altered immune system that causes them to get more infections. It is the underlying immune system problem that increases the risk and not the antibiotic. It is also possible that the study conclusions are based on chance and that there is really no increased risk. For all of these reasons, the study should be viewed as preliminary, and needs to be repeated.
Antibiotics are clearly overused in the United States and elsewhere. Minocycline and other antibiotics have been shown to be valuable in the treatment of severe acne. The use of antibiotics should be reserved for severe cases of acne after topical products have failed. These drugs do have side effects, but are usually well tolerated by most people. Because they change the bacteria in the bowel and elsewhere in the body, they can cause fungal infections including thrush and vaginal yeast infections.
