Birth control pills may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, study says

These little pills have a lot of potential. Despite their primary role in preventing pregnancy, birth control pills may also help reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, according to a new study from the University of South Australia.

By screening ovarian cancer risk factors using artificial intelligence, researchers at the University of South Australia found that oral contraceptives reduced the risk of ovarian cancer by 26 percent in women who had ever taken the pill and by 43 percent among women who started taking the pill after age 45.

The study also identified some biomarkers associated with ovarian cancer risk, including certain red blood cell parameters and certain liver enzymes in the blood, and noted that lower body weight and shorter height were associated with a lower risk of ovarian cancer.

The researchers also found that women who had two or more children experienced a 39% reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer compared to those who did not have children.

In Australia, ovarian cancer is the tenth most common cancer in women and the sixth most common cause of cancer death in women.  In 2023, 1,786 women in Australia were diagnosed with ovarian cancer; in the same year, 1,050 women died from the disease.

UniSA researcher Dr. Amanda Lumsden believes that understanding the risks and preventative factors of ovarian cancer is key to improving treatment and outcomes.

“Ovarian cancer is known to be diagnosed in late stages: about 70% of cases are only detected when the disease is significantly advanced,” says Dr. Lumsden. – Late detection results in a five-year survival rate of less than 30%, compared to more than 90% for ovarian cancer detected at an early stage. That’s why it’s so important to identify risk factors.”

In this study, researchers found that women who took oral contraceptives had a lower risk of developing ovarian cancer. And those who took the pill after age 40 had an even lower risk. This prompted the question of whether interventions that reduce the number of ovulations could be used as a potential target for ovarian cancer prevention strategies.

The MRFF-supported study used artificial intelligence to evaluate data from 221,732 women (aged 37-73) from Biobank UK.

Machine learning specialist Dr. Iqbal Madakkatel from the University of South Africa says the study demonstrates that artificial intelligence can help identify risk factors that might otherwise go undetected.

“We included information on nearly 3,000 different characteristics related to health, medication intake, diet and lifestyle, physical performance, metabolic and hormonal factors, each of which was measured at the beginning of the study,” said Dr. Iqbal Madakkatel, machine learning specialist, University of South Africa

It is particularly interesting that some blood parameters, which were measured an average of 12.6 years before diagnosis, predicted the risk of developing ovarian cancer, suggesting that tests will soon be developed to detect women at risk at a very early stage.

Identifying risk factors for ovarian cancer may help improve survival rates through prevention and earlier detection.

The study suggests that by using birth control pills to reduce the number of ovulations or reducing unhealthy fat mass, there may be positive results in preventing cancer in women at highest risk.

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Published: 12.02.2025

Updated: 12.02.2025

Medical author, Medical editor:

Stepan Yuk

Medical expert:

PhD. Olexandr Voznyak