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1998/07/17 -A new study from the Hereditary Ovarian Cancer Clinical Study Group suggests that oral contraceptive use may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in women with a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. According to the study, the reduction in risk was 20 percent for up to three years of oral contraceptive use, and 60 percent for six or more years of use. The findings are reported in the August 13, 1998 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
"It is exciting that women at high risk for ovarian cancer, like women in the general population, can decrease their risk of this silent killer by at least 50% simply by taking oral contraceptives for at least six years," says Debbie Saslow, PhD, director of breast and cervical cancer for the American Cancer Society. "Women with BRCA mutations are at high risk for breast cancer as well as ovarian cancer, and therefore face a tradeoff between a slight increase in breast cancer risk and the decrease in risk for ovarian cancer. Two arguments in favor of taking oral contraceptives are that the protective effect persists for up to 20 years following cessation of use, and that ovarian cancer is much more difficult to detect early than breast cancer," says Dr. Saslow.
Joann Schellenbach
National Director Media Relations
American Cancer Society
212-382-2169
jschelle@cancer.org
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