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Oral Contraceptives and Cancer

  • Chapter
Contraception

Part of the book series: Clinical Perspectives in Obstetrics and Gynecology ((CPOG))

Abstract

Combination-type oral contraceptives (COCs) reduce the risk of endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer, but increase the risk of liver cancer, and may increase the risk of breast cancer and cervical cancer. Analysis of epidemiologic and biologic data on cancers of the breast, endometrium, and ovary suggest that the effects of COCs on cancer rates in these tissues is determined by the effects of COCs on normal cell proliferation in these tissues. The increase in liver cancer is likely to be mediated by a nonhormonal mechanism. The situation as regards cervical cancer is unclear. This analysis suggests how a hormonal contraceptive could be developed that would reduce lifetime risk of endometrial, ovarian, and breast cancer. Such a hormonal contraceptive would also reduce the excess liver cancer risk. If COC use is causally associated with an excess cervical cancer risk, then such a hormonal contraceptive may also reduce this risk, but this is difficult to predict in the current state of ignorance of the fundamental biology of the relationship of hormones to cell proliferation in the cervix.

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Authors
  1. Malcolm C. Pike
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  2. Darcy V. Spicer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Women’s Hospital Room L946, 1240 North Mission Road, 90033, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Donna Shoupe M.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, LAC-USC Medical Center, Women’s Hospital Room L946, 1240 North Mission Road, 90033, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Donna Shoupe M.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  3. Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, 20892, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Florence P. Haseltine MD, Ph.D. (Director) (Director)

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

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Pike, M.C., Spicer, D.V. (1993). Oral Contraceptives and Cancer. In: Shoupe, D., Haseltine, F.P. (eds) Contraception. Clinical Perspectives in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2730-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2730-4_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7645-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-2730-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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