Taking birth control pill can decrease ovarian cancer risk, study finds
Posted October 27, 2011 7:21 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Women who take the birth control pill for 10 years cut their risk of ovarian cancer by nearly 50 per cent.
Having a baby is almost as effective.
Women who become moms are 30 per cent less likely to have ovarian cancer than their childless counterparts and every extra child decreases the risk further.
Researchers said both the pill and pregnancy cuts the amount of naturally-produced estrogen, a risk factor for ovarian cancer.
The Oxford University study is in the British Journal of Cancer.
