Smokers on the Pill cut ovarian cancer risk by 66 per cent

Birth control pills greatly reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer in smokers, according to a new study. 

The long-term use of oral contraceptives was associated with a 40 percent reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer overall, and a 66 percent reduced risk in smokers, researchers from the US National Cancer Institute found.   

Smoking, the leading cause of preventable cancer, has been linked to a 77 percent increased risk of developing mucinous ovarian cancer.

Since the birth control pill significantly reduced the risk of ovarian cancer across all lifestyle habits, researchers believe the contraceptive could be prescribed as medication to reduce cancer risk.

Smokers who use birth control have a 66 percent reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer

‘Risk reductions for ovarian cancer consistently strengthened with duration of oral contraceptive use across most lifestyle characteristics evaluated,’ researchers wrote.

The study, published in JAMA Oncology, analyzed data collected from the NIH-AARP and Health Study which tracked more than 100,000 women using birth control pills from 1995 to 2011.

Researchers found that women who used birth control pills for at least 10 years had a 40 percent reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer.

In former smokers, birth control pills reduced the risk by 30 percent, and in current smokers, by 66 percent. 

The study also found long-term use of birth control pills reduced the risk of endometrial cancer – a type of cancer that begins in the uterus – by 34 percent, with strongest risk reductions among current smokers.   

Oral contraceptives have been consistently linked to a lower risk of ovarian cancer – which more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with each year.

A 1992 study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology found the risk of developing the disease decreased by 10 to 12 percent after one year of use and by approximately 50 percent after five years.

According to American Cancer Society, smoking doesn’t increase the risk of ovarian cancer overall, but a study published in the International Journal of Cancer has linked the habit to a 77 percent increased risk of mucinous epithelial ovarian cancer. 

A 2017 report by the American Cancer Society found cigarette smoking is the leading cancer of preventable cancer and cancer deaths, accounting for 19 percent of cases and 28 percent of cancer deaths.

Women who are obese, have menopause, had their first pregnancy after 35 or never carried a pregnancy to term, have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.



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