Another Wonder of The Pill

I thought this was an interesting article I came across today.


`The Pill' Helps Reduce Ovarian Cancer Risk, Wider Use Is Urged
By Chantal Britt

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJUHj5yzEfHI&refer=home

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The longer a woman uses the oral contraceptive pill, the lower her risk of getting ovarian cancer later in life, The Lancet medical journal reports.

Ten years of pill use reduced ovarian cancer cases as well as deaths from the disease, according to research by Valerie Beral from the Cancer Research U.K. Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University.

Oral contraceptives, which contain the hormones estrogen and progestin or progestin alone, are used by more than 100 million women, the journal said. The pills have been linked to increased risks for breast and cervical cancers and shown to have protective effects against ovarian, endometrial and colorectal tumors. Beral's findings mean the contraceptives should be more widely used, an editorial in The Lancet said.

``We strongly endorse more widespread over-the-counter access to a preventive agent that can not only prevent cancers but also demonstrably save the lives of tens of thousands of women,'' the editorial said.

Use of the pills cut the number of cases to eight per 1,000 women from 12, and the number of deaths to five instead of seven per 1,000, Beral said.

The hormone drugs, which have been used for almost 50 years, have prevented about 200,000 cases of ovarian cancer, and 100,000 deaths from the disease, Beral estimated. Use of the medicines may prevent at least 30,000 cases of cancer per year over the next few decades. Beral analyzed data from 45 studies in 21 countries including almost 100,000 women.

Other Factors

Risk reduction didn't vary according to factors including ethnicity, education or the consumption of alcohol or tobacco, she said. The dose of estrogen didn't have an effect on prevention rates either, the researchers found. The pills used in the 1960s typically contained more than double the estrogen dose of those sold in the 1980s.

Women in their 20s may be more concerned about the possible link to breast or cervical cancers, which are more common, the editorial said. The overall cancer-preventing benefits of the pill are a ``positive'' message and should empower women to decide for themselves about the evidence, it added.

Women may cut their risk of developing ovarian cancer by consuming about three cups of coffee a day, a study published Jan. 22 in the journal Cancer found.