Hormonal contraceptives prevent ovarian cancer

An international group of scientists working under the leadership of Professor Valerie Beral of Oxford University has found that hormonal contraceptives continue to protect a woman from developing ovarian cancer for 30 years after the end of their use. At the same time, the duration of administration is directly proportional to the severity of protection, and taking birth control pills for 15 years reduces the risk of ovarian cancer by 50%.

The results of 45 epidemiological studies of the incidence of ovarian cancer in 21 countries were analyzed as part of the work. A total of 23257 women with ovarian cancer participated in the studies (31% of them took oral contraceptives), and 87303 women without this diagnosis, of which 37% used hormonal contraception.

The authors calculated that in high-income countries, taking oral contraceptives for 10 years reduces the risk of ovarian cancer under the age of 75 from 12 to 8 cases per 1,000 women and reduces the risk of death from this disease from 7 to 5 cases per 1,000.

According to Beral, taking hormonal contraceptives worldwide has already saved 200,000 women from ovarian cancer and prevented 100,000 deaths from this disease. Currently, more than 100 million women are taking hormonal contraceptives, which will increase the number of preventable cases of ovarian cancer to 30,000 per year within a few decades.

Taking hormonal contraceptives also provides long-term protection against endometrial cancer of the uterus, but, at the same time, increases the risk of developing breast and cervical cancer for a short period of time. However, according to the authors, a decrease in the likelihood of ovarian cancer, which is one of the most severe oncological diseases, significantly outweighs all possible negative consequences of taking hormonal contraceptives.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily.

25.01.2008