Oral contraceptive usage protects against ovarian and endometrial cancer, according to a large research including over 250,000 women. The preventive effect lasts for decades after the drug is no longer used.
Oral contraceptive usage protects against ovarian and endometrial cancer, according to a large research conducted by Uppsala University including over 250,000 women. The preventive effect lasts for decades after the drug is no longer used. Cancer Research is the publication where the research was published.
With a lifetime risk of little over 2%, ovarian and endometrial malignancies are among the most prevalent gynecological cancers. Endometrial cancer is somewhat more prevalent, but the fatality rate is low since it has clearer symptoms and is therefore generally discovered at an early stage. Ovarian cancer, on the other hand, is one of the deadliest tumors because it is typically not identified until it has spread to other regions of the body.
In the 1960s, the first oral contraceptive pill was allowed, and 80 percent of all women in Western Europe have taken oral contraceptives at some time in their lives. Oral contraceptives include synthetic versions of the female sex hormones oestrogen and progestin. Oral contraceptives include oestrogen and progestin, which inhibit ovulation and so pregnancy.
The researchers examined the incidence of breast, ovarian, and endometrial malignancies in women who had used oral contraceptive pills to those who had never used them.
“It was obvious that women who took oral contraceptive pills had a much decreased incidence of ovarian and endometrial cancer. The risk was around 50% decreased fifteen years after stopping using oral contraceptives. However, a reduced risk was identified up to 30-35 years after the drug was stopped “One of the study’s key researchers, Anders Johansson of Uppsala University’s Department of Immunology, Genetics, and Pathology, states.
Oral contraceptive pills, on the other hand, have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in the past.
“We discovered just a tiny elevated risk of breast cancer among oral contraceptive users, and the higher risk vanished within a few years after cessation,” Johansson adds. “Our findings imply that even if there is a higher short-term risk, the lifetime risk of breast cancer may not vary between ever and never users.”
The new study’s findings are significant since oral contraceptive usage has been linked to serious adverse effects such as deep vein thrombosis and breast cancer.
“Oral contraceptive tablets have been demonstrated to provide other benefits in addition to preventing conception. Our findings may help women and doctors make better judgments about which women should take oral contraceptives “According to Therese Johansson, one of the study’s PhD students.
