Could the Contraceptive Pill Reduce the Risk of Developing Ovarian Cancer?

It is a small pill with a big responsibility. But despite its main task being to prevent pregnancies, the birth control pill could also help to reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer, according to new research by the University of South Australia.

Results Could Support Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer

When using artificial intelligence to examine risk factors for ovarian cancer, UniSA researchers found that the contraceptive pill reduced the risk of ovarian cancer by 26% in women who had ever taken the pill and by 43% in women who had taken the pill after the age of 45. The study also identified some biomarkers associated with ovarian cancer risk, including several red blood cell characteristics and certain liver enzymes in the blood, with lower body weight and stature associated with a lower risk of ovarian cancer. The researchers also found that women who had given birth to two or more children had a 39% lower risk of developing ovarian cancer than women who had not given birth.

In Australia, ovarian cancer is the 10th most common cancer among women and the sixth leading cause of cancer death in women. In 2023, 1786 women in Australia were diagnosed with ovarian cancer; in the same year, 1050 women died from the disease. According to Dr. Amanda Lumsden, a researcher at UniSA, understanding the risks and preventive factors for ovarian cancer is key to better treatment and outcomes. “Ovarian cancer is notoriously diagnosed at a late stage, with about 70% of cases only being detected when they are already quite advanced,” says Dr. Lumsden. ”Late detection contributes to a survival rate of less than 30% over five years, compared to more than 90% for ovarian cancers that are detected early. This is why it is so important to identify risk factors.”

Birth Control Pill to Reduce Ovulation

In this study, researchers found that women who took birth control pills had a lower risk of ovarian cancer. And those who started taking the pill in their mid-40s had an even lower risk. This raises the question of whether measures that reduce the number of ovulations could be used as a potential target for prevention strategies against ovarian cancer. The MRFF-supported study used artificial intelligence to evaluate data from 221,732 women (aged 37 to 73 years at baseline) in the UK Biobank. The study also shows how artificial intelligence can help identify risk factors that might otherwise have gone undetected.

The researchers included information from nearly 3,000 different characteristics related to health, medication use, nutrition and lifestyle, physical measurements, metabolic and hormonal factors, each measured at the beginning of the study. Particularly interesting was that some blood levels, measured on average 12.6 years before diagnosis, could predict the risk of ovarian cancer, as this suggests that it may be possible to develop tests to identify women at risk at a very early stage. According to project manager Professor Elina Hyppönen, identifying risk factors for ovarian cancer could help improve survival rates through prevention and early detection. Researchers believe it is possible to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by using the contraceptive pill to reduce ovulation or by reducing harmful obesity. However, further research is needed to determine the best prevention approaches and how we can identify the women most at risk.