(June 23, 2016) The Journal of Clinical Oncology recently published a study on the role of oral contraceptives (OC) on ovarian cancer prevention. The study, which analyzed data from 21 studies with 5, 584 cases of ovarian cancer, concluded that OC reduced the risk of a variety of invasive ovarian cancers.
The risk of developing any type of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer decreased by about 16% for those who had reported ever having taken OC and, for every 5 years patients continued to use OC, the risk decreased by about 13% for multiple types of invasive ovarian cancers with the exception of mucinous tumors. An even lower risk was linked specifically to endometrioid, about 22 percent, and clear cell carcinomas, about 32 percent with oral contraceptive use.
Additionally, the study found that other lifestyle factors could have an effect on invasive ovarian cancer. For example, smoking was linked to a high risk of mucinous tumors but a lower risk of clear cell tumors.
To read the article from Clinical Endocrinology News, click here.
