Pill reduces womb cancer risk, major study finds

Taking the contraceptive pill for even just a few years can reduce the risk of womb cancer according to a major study.

Researchers from the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies on Endometrial Cancer estimate that in the past 50 years (1965 to 2014), about 400,000 cases of endometrial cancer have been prevented by oral contraceptive use in high- income countries, including about 200,000 in the last decade (2005 to 2014).

The findings reveal that every five years of taking the pill reduces the risk of endometrial cancer by about a quarter. 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.