Taking an oral contraceptive pill could give long-term protection against cancer

The contraceptive pill is said to give long term protection against womb cancer

IT'S believed new information means taking the contraceptive pill could give long-term protection against womb cancer.

 

Research released today has revealed the oral contraceptive pill, often referred to as "the pill", gives long-term protection against womb cancer. 

It's also said the longer it is used the greater the reduction in risk for that specific type of cancer - for every five years on the pill, the risk of endometrial cancer reduces by about a quarter.

Researchers said an estimated 400,000 womb cancer cases had been prevented by use of the pill in wealthy countries the past 50 years, including some 200,000 in the last decade.

 

The longer it is used the greater the reduction in risk, it's said

Valerie Beral, a professor at Britain's Oxford University who co-led the study, said: "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."

 

She added: "People used to worry that the pill might cause cancer, but in the long term the pill reduces the risk of getting cancer."

The study pooled data on 27,276 women with endometrial cancer in 36 studies from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa - using virtually all the epidemiological evidence ever collected on the effect of oral contraceptives.

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.

The study may surprise some as oestrogen levels in oral contraceptives have decreased markedly over the years. 

Oral contraceptive pills in the 1960s contained more than double the oestrogen dose of pills in the 1980s. 

But the study found the reduction in endometrial cancer risk was at least as great for women who used the pill during the 1980s as for those who used it in earlier decades.

For those who take the pill with a lower amount of hormones in, it is still sufficient to reduce the incidence of endometrial cancer, Beral said.

While the Pill protects against womb cancer, research suggests it slightly increases the risk of breast cancer - but the risk starts to drop when a woman stops taking oral contraceptives.

Cancer Research UK advises women to weigh up the risks, especially those with a family history of breast cancer.