If the contraceptive pill is often pointed out because it increases the risk of developing certain cardiovascular diseases (heart attack, stroke), it would have a protective effect against endometrial cancer.
Researchers at the University of Oxford (UK) analyzed the medical data of 27,000 women with endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus and not cancer of the cervix. ). They then evaluated that in 50 years, 400,000 cases of endometrial cancer, out of the 3.4 million identified in these countries, had been prevented thanks to the use of oral contraceptives, including 200,000 in the last ten years. recent years (2005-2014). “The strong protective effect of oral contraceptives against endometrial cancer persists for years after stopping the pill,” explains Prof. Valerie Beral, professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study.
The study’s findings revealed that taking an oral contraceptive for 5 years would reduce the risk of getting endometrial cancer by about 25% before age 75. Taking it for ten years would practically halve the risk of endometrial cancer, which would drop from 2.3 cases per 100 women to 1.3.
Unlike cervical cancer, which mostly affects young women, endometrial cancer almost always occurs after menopause, in women aged 68 on average. It affects the upper part of the uterus and more precisely the mucous membrane (endometrium) which lines the inside of the cavity. Women most at risk are those with a history of polyps on the uterus and those who suffer from obesity and / or diabetes. These two diseases are indeed accompanied by an increased production of estrogen, hormones that promote the growth of cancer cells. Endometrial cancer also develops more frequently in women taking Tamoxifen, a treatment used as hormone therapy to prevent recurrence of certain breast cancers.
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