Woman Shares MRI Scan To Prove How Contraceptive Pill Gave Her Two Tumors

"I don't want to scare women about birth control, but I do want to inspire women to be the CEOs of their bodies," 30-year-old Makenzie Hammond told Newsweek.

The California-based marketing professional was diagnosed with two benign liver tumors in January, which her doctors claimed her contraceptive pill was to blame for. These tumors are called hepatic adenomas and are defined as rare tumors of the liver that are frequently associated with oral contraceptive pill usage by the National Center of Biotechnology Information's National Library of Medicine.

Hammond has since shared her MRI scan online in a bid to encourage other women to think deeply about their contraceptive options. Her emotional video, which can be seen here, has already been viewed by over 1.2 million users since it was first shared on TikTok in late July.

Amid Hammond's tireless graft to get more people to assess their choice of contraception, the effectiveness and safety of the contraceptive pill have continued to be called into question. The controversy surrounding the medication catapulted to a height in March after researchers at the University of Oxford managed to establish a link between the progestogen-only pill and breast cancer after this mode of the pill was long thought to be at little to no risk of triggering the disease.

While Hammond's tumors are at this stage believed to be benign, they have still disrupted her life and halted her carefree and upbeat lifestyle. She's now planning to undergo multiple biopsies and potential surgery all while putting off any plans to try for a baby. The marketing professional had taken her birth control medication every day for 13 years before making the switch to non-hormonal contraceptive methods following her shocking diagnosis.

"I had to go off of it the same day I saw my liver specialist. The tumors are benign right now and fortunately, most liver tumors caused from birth control are, but when these type of tumors grow to surpass 5 centimeters there's an increase in rupture and malignant transformation. This means that the tumor can turn into cancer in the future," Hammond said.

"My largest tumor is currently 5.8 centimeters," she added.

The specialists treating Hammond in her home county, California's Orange County, have asked her to undergo another MRI scan in a few months' time to assess for any signs of shrinking.

"We're hopeful that they will because 78 percent of these types of tumors shrink when you come off estrogen," Hammond told Newsweek.

Her upcoming biopsies that could result in surgery are designed to determine which one out of 4 types of tumors Hammond's liver growths are. As it stands, one of her tumors is larger than the other and a real cause for concern which has left Hammond feeling determined to sound the already-ringing alarm about the dangers associated with hormonal birth control. Luckily, she's not alone and has found support and solace in online groups where other women have shared their eerily similar stories.

"I'm part of a Facebook group where over 1,300 women are all going through the same thing. I've found countless women through TikTok who are going through this too," Hammond said.

"There's just not a ton of research on how hormonal birth control can cause liver tumors and I really want to spread awareness. Women deserve to know the risks of the medication and doctors quite simply aren't doing a good job of telling women about these risks," she added.

Although Hammond feels that professionals in the medical world have taken a backseat on the issue, it's not hard to gather together a list of the common symptoms that someone with a benign liver tumor will experience. Plenty of the women in Hammond's Facebook group alone attested to suffering from abdominal discomfort.

"I was experiencing it every time I ate a meal. I would feel overly full in my stomach and I would physically feel the lump. My abdomen would also pulse and throb a lot," Hammond said.

"I had other symptoms throughout the preceding year that I just didn't realize was from my liver. Fatigue and feeling like I was going to pass out during exercises among other random things that I didn't know was related," she added.

While her day-to-day life has become more challenging in the months that have followed her diagnosis, Hammond is glad to be under care and is now focused on inspiring more women to "take their power back" when it comes to birth control.

A Closer Look At Hepatic Adenomas

Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is a board-certified internal medicine physician and the Host of TED Health. She holds particular expertise in reproductive health and tumors.

"Hepatic adenomas are rare, benign liver tumors that primarily occur in women of childbearing age," she told Newsweek while adding that patients with glycogen storage disease or obesity are at a higher risk of developing them.

"When they occur, they are often associated with the use of oral contraceptive pills. The exact process of how oral contraceptive pills lead to the development of hepatic adenomas is complex, but it is believed to be related to their estrogenic or hormonal effects.

"The liver plays a key role in hormone metabolism, and increased exposure to estrogen or similar substances over a prolonged period can alter normal liver cell activity. This hormonal alteration can trigger increased cellular proliferation and abnormal growth patterns, eventually leading to the formation of an adenoma," she added.

According to the San Francisco-based doctor, the risk of developing hepatic adenomas increases with the duration of oral contraceptive use and the dosage of estrogen in the pills. This would put someone like Makenzie Hammond, who'd been taking her prescribed pill for over 10 years, at a greater risk of developing hepatic adenomas than an individual who'd only been on the pill for one year.

"It's also worth noting that these adenomas can potentially lead to serious complications, such as hemorrhage or malignant transformation, although these are rare," Dr. Ungerleider said.

"Therefore, regular monitoring is necessary, especially for individuals who have been using oral contraceptives for long periods or at high doses," she added.

The treatment and management of hepatic adenomas depend on several factors including the size of the adenomas, the patient's symptoms, and the risk for complications such as bleeding or malignancy. In some cases, particularly with smaller adenomas, a 'watch and wait' or surveillance strategy may be adopted, which is akin to what Hammond's currently going through.

This process often involves regular imaging studies, such as ultrasound, CT scan, or an MRI, to monitor the size and characteristics of the adenoma over time. Blood tests may also be performed to assess liver function and to look for signs of malignancy.

If a patient is symptomatic or the adenoma is larger than 5 centimeters and shows signs of growth or transformation, more aggressive treatment may be warranted. This might include surgical resection, which is the removal of the adenoma, or in some cases, embolization, a procedure that blocks the blood supply to the adenoma causing it to shrink.

In most cases where the patient is using oral contraceptives or other hormone-based medications, discontinuation of these drugs is often recommended as they can contribute to the growth of the adenoma.