Oral contraceptives cut ovarian cancer rates

Results from a new study by the charitable organization Cancer Research UK suggest that the contraceptive pill provides long lasting protection against ovarian cancer. The work, which is published in the current issue of The Lancet, also found that the greater the duration of use, the better the protection provided, with the risk of cancer dropping 50% in women who took the drug for 15 years.

The researchers, led by Valerie Beral of CR UK's epidemiology unit at Oxford University, examined data from 45 studies of ovarian cancer in 21 countries around the world. The team found that, in high income countries, using the pill for 10 years cut the risk of developing ovarian cancer before the age of 75 from 12 to eight in 1,000 and reduced the likelihood of members of the same age group dying from the disease from seven to five per 1,000.

Study co-author Richard Peto commented that, while previous work has shown that there are definite health risks associated with the pill, the eventual reduction in the occurrence of both ovarian and endometrial cancers far outweighs the dangers of developing cancer through use of the drug.