Short-term use of pill 'reduces cancer risk'

Taking the contraceptive pill over a short period may reduce a woman’s chances of getting cancer –but taking it for too long may increase the risk, scientists said today.

Women who take the Pill can have up to a 12% lower risk of developing the disease, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.

But the same research also showed women who used the pill for more than eight years – a quarter of those in the study – had a significantly higher risk of developing cancer.

Scientists at the University of Aberdeen found those who took the contraceptive for shorter periods suffered from significantly lower rates of bowel and rectal cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer.

And up to 29% had a reduced risk of developing one of the main gynaecological cancers.

But those who took the pill for more than eight years had an increased risk of developing all forms of cancer, particularly cervical and central nervous system cancer.

Some previous studies have suggested earlier forms of the Pill – which was launched in 1961 – may have increased the risk of developing the disease.

Professor Philip Hannaford of the University of Aberdeen, who helped carry out the research, said: “These results show that in this UK cohort the contraceptive pill was not associated with an overall increased risk of any cancer, indeed it may produce an important net public health gain.

“These findings will probably reassure most Pill users living in the UK and their doctors.”

The research is one of the largest detailed studies of the Pill in the world.

Scientists recruited 46,000 women in 1968 to take part. Half were already using oral contraceptives, and the other half had never taken them.

Researchers at the University of Aberdeen recently analysed the data, which spans a 36-year period, to come up with the findings.

The cancer risks were calculated using two sets of data. The first related to cancers reported while the women were registered with the GP who first recruited them, and whose information was more detailed.

The second main study was larger and included cancers noted by central NHS registries.

This was necessary because many women moved from the GPs who originally signed them up to the study, and so had to be linked to the central registries to track their progress.

In the smaller study – using the data from GPs – there was a 3% reduced risk of developing any cancer.

This is considerably lower than in the larger study, where the reduction was 12%.

But the 3% result still represented one fewer case of cancer for every 10,000 women, researchers noted.

The average Pill user in the research took the contraceptive for 44 months.

In the UK, an estimated three million women use the Pill each year, and 100 million around the world.

More than 300 million women are thought to have used the Pill since its launch in 1961.

Charity Breast Cancer Care welcomed the report.

Maria Leadbeater, a nurse specialist with the charity, said: “The findings of this research will be welcomed by thousands of women across the UK who have used, or are currently using, an oral contraceptive.

“While it did not find that taking the Pill reduced the risk of developing breast cancer, as it does with other cancers, the research showed that there was no increased risk for those who had taken the Pill.”

And she went on: “From talking to women on our helpline, we know the anxiety that concerns over the Pill can cause.

“This new research will be a great reassurance to them, but we would urge women to remain breast aware – to know how their breasts look and feel normally, and to report any unnatural changes to their GP.”