ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES HAVE PREVENTED ABOUT 200,000 CASES OF ENDOMETRIAL CANCER IN THE LAST DECADE

Use of oral contraceptives, even for just a few years, gives substantial long-term protection against endometrial (womb) cancer. The longer the pill is used, the greater the reduction in risk, according to a detailed re-analysis of all the available evidence.

Researchers from the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies on Endometrial Cancer estimate that in the past 50 years (1965-2014) about 400,000 cases of endometrial cancer have been prevented by oral contraceptive use in high-income countries, including about 200,000 in the last decade (2005-2014).

The strong protective effect of oral contraceptives against endometrial cancer, which persists for decades after stopping the pill, means that women who use it when they are in their 20s or even younger continue to benefit into their 50s and older, when cancer becomes more common. Previous research has shown that the pill also protects against ovarian cancer. People used to worry that the pill might cause cancer, but in the long term the pill reduces the risk of getting cancer.

The researchers pooled data on 27,276 women with endometrial cancer in 36 studies from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South Africa. The findings reveal that every five years of oral contraceptive use, reduces the risk of endometrial cancer by about a quarter. In high-income countries, 10 years of oral contraceptive use reduces the risk of developing endometrial cancer before age 75 from 2.3 to 1.3 cases per 100 users.

Thanks to: sciencedaily.com