Another Noncontraceptive Benefit of Hormonal Contraception

Although hormone levels in oral contraceptives (OCs) have been reduced dramatically during the last 50 years, concerns that OCs may cause cancer persist. To summarize the world literature on cancer risk associated with use of modern OC formulations, researchers analyzed pooled results from 50 observational studies (23 breast cancer, 9 cervical cancer, 11 colorectal cancer, and 7 endometrial cancers) published since 2000.

Overall, OC use was associated with slightly increased risk for breast cancer, although this finding was of marginal statistical significance (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.17) — and in U.S.-based sensitivity analyses, no significant relation was seen between OC use and breast cancer. No increase in risk …