Reassurance About Oral Contraception and Cancer Risk

Despite many years of widespread use of oral contraception (OC), concerns about oncogenic risk persist. Researchers therefore examined risk for cancer in relation to duration of OC use among >100,000 U.S. women participating in the prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study (age range at enrollment, 50–71).

During 15 years of follow-up, associations between OC use and breast or colorectal cancer were negligible, even after controlling for smoking, obesity, and family history of cancer. Longer-duration OC use reduced ovarian cancer risk among all women, including those who were smokers, obese, or both. Longer OC use also reduced endometrial cancer risk among all women, with the greatest risk reductions among those who were smokers, obese, or …