Women who use birth control pills are less likely to develop ovarian cancer later in life, a new analysis of past studies suggests
9 June, 2013 – Women who use birth control pills are less likely to develop ovarian cancer later in life, a new analysis of past studies suggests. Researchers pooled data from 24 studies and found Pill users had a 27 per cent lower risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And longer use seemed to be tied to more protection. “It reinforces that there is a positive relationship between the use of oral contraceptives and ovarian cancer prevention in the general public,” said dr Laura Havrilesky, who led the study at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. “I think it adds scientific weight to that relationship,”
However, the reveiw paper can’t prove that using oral contraception lowers a woman’s risk of disease – because there could have been other, unmeasured differences between women who took the Pill and those who didn’t, researchers noted. About one in 72 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer during her lifetime, according to American Cancer Society.
