Key Takeaways
The Pill can help ward off ovarian cancer
Women who have used the birth control pill at any time have a 26% lower risk of ovarian cancer
Their risk is 45% lower if they used they pill after age 45
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- The Pill prevents pregnancy -- and maybe ovarian cancer, too, a new study suggests.
Women who69传媒檝e ever used the contraceptive pill have a 26% lower risk of ovarian cancer, researchers say.
Women who used the pill after age 45 benefit even more, with a 43% lower risk of ovarian cancer, according to findings published in the .
The hormones in the birth control pill work in part by stopping or reducing , the process by which eggs are released from the ovaries.
69传媒淭his poses the question as to whether interventions that reduce the number of ovulations could be used as a potential target for prevention strategies for ovarian cancer,69传媒 investigator , a research fellow with the University of South Australia, said in a news release.
The discovery of the Pill69传媒檚 potential protective powers resulted from an effort to use AI to identify risk factors for ovarian cancer.
69传媒淥varian cancer is notoriously diagnosed at a late stage, with about 70% of cases only identified when they are significantly advanced,69传媒 Lumsden said.
69传媒淟ate detection contributes to a survival rate of less than 30% over five years, in comparison to more than 90% for ovarian cancers that are caught early,69传媒 she continued. 69传媒淭hat69传媒檚 why it69传媒檚 so important to identify risk factors.69传媒
For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 221,000 women participating in the UK Biobank, a long-term health research project.
During a follow-up of nearly 13 years, 1,441 women developed . Researchers dug deep to figure out what aspects of their lives and health might have increased their cancer risk.
69传媒淲e included information from almost 3,000 diverse characteristics related to health, medication use, diet and lifestyle, physical measures, metabolic, and hormonal factors, each measured at the start of the study,69传媒 lead investigator , a research associate in machine learning at the University of South Australia, said in a news release.
The analysis also found that women who69传媒檇 given birth to two or more children had a 39% lower risk of developing ovarian cancer, compared to those who had not had children.
Further, researchers discovered some characteristics of red blood cells and liver enzymes in the blood associated with ovarian cancer risk.
69传媒淚t was particularly interesting that some blood measures -- which were measured on average 12.6 years before diagnoses -- were predictive of ovarian cancer risk, because it suggests we may be able to develop tests to identify women at risk at a very early stage,69传媒 Madakkatel said.
The study also confirmed some risk factors already suspected for ovarian cancer, including excess weight and taller stature.
The findings are in line with a theory of ovarian cancer first floated in 1971 which argued that 69传媒渋ncessant ovulation69传媒 might promote the growth of abnormal pre-cancerous cells, researchers noted.
Other mammals only ovulate during breeding seasons, and ovarian cancer is rare among these species, the holds.
69传媒淚t is possible that by using the contraceptive pill to reduce ovulations or by reducing harmful adiposity, we may be able to lower to risk of ovarian cancer,69传媒 senior researcher , a professor of nutritional and genetic epidemiology with the University of South Australia, said in a news release.
69传媒淏ut more research is needed to establish the best approaches to prevention, as well as the ways in which we can identify women most at risk,69传媒 she concluded.
More information
Planned Parenthood has more on .
SOURCE: University of South Australia, news release, Feb. 2, 2025
What This Means For You
Women should ask their doctor about the contraceptive pill if they want to avoid pregnancy and potentially lower their risk of ovarian cancer.
