Oral contraceptive, also called birth control pill, any of a class of synthetic steroid hormones that suppress the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland in the female body.

Using injected contraceptives increases the risk that women will develop some cancers but is protective against other types of cancer, new research suggests.
The research shows that cancer protections and risks associated with injectable contraceptives are similar to those associated with the contraceptive pill.

Taking contraceptive pills for between 10 and 15 years is likely to halve your risk of developing a deadly uterine cancer, groundbreaking research has found.

Taking the pill at an early age can reduce the chances of breast cancer for women with a high genetic risk of developing the disease, Australian research shows.But it will do so despite commissioned advice from a senior public health expert that targeted education campaigns could have achieved more at lower cost than the new mandatory program.

Young childless women who take the oral contraceptive pill face an almost 50 per cent increased risk of breast cancer, international research reveals.

Women who take birth control pills are less likely to get ovarian cancer, a study has found. The risk is lower even many years after they stop taking the pills. Researchers used data on more than 23,000 women with ovarian cancer. They compared it with 87,000 cancer-free women. About one-third of each group took birth control pills. They used them for an average of five years. About 12 in 1,000 women get ovarian cancer before age 75. But only 8 per 1,000 women who took birth control pills got the disease. The Associated Press reported on the study January 25. It was in the journal Lancet.

The article reports on the risk of premenopausal breast cancer associated with the use of oral pills before the first pregnancy. Studies showed that there is a 52% risk of premenopausal breast cancer on women who used pills for four years. Breast physician and epidemiologist Dr. Nehmat Houssami stated that further research should be done regarding the use of oral contraceptives before first pregnancy because younger women are using the oral contraceptive pills for longer periods.

While evidence on the association between oral contraceptive (OC) use and breast cancer generally suggests little or no increased risk, the question of whether breast cancer risk varies by OC formulation remains controversial. Few studies have examined this
issue because large samples and extensive OC histories are required. We used data from a multicenter, population-based, case–control investigation. Women aged 35–64 years were interviewed. To explore the association between OC formulation and breast cancer risk.

Women taking contraceptive pills have a 50 per cent higher overall risk of developing breast cancer, a study has found.

Millions of women around the world have used the combined oestrogen and progestogen oral contraceptive pill to protect themselves from pregnancy for more than fifty years. The overall risk of reproductive-aged women developing cancer is low, but debate continues as to whether using the pill could increase this risk.

The results of population studies to examine associations between oral contraceptive use and cancer risk have not always been consistent. Overall, however, the risks of endometrial and ovarian cancer appear to be reduced with the use of oral contraceptives, whereas the risks of breast, cervical, and liver cancer appear to be increased (1). A summary of research results for each type of cancer is given on this site.

The contraceptive pill gives women substantial and long-lasting protection against ovarian cancer, according to a new report. The researchers found that the protection against ovarian cancer lasted for more than 30 years after women had stopped taking the Pill. They also found that the longer the Pill was used the greater the protection and that taking the Pill for 15 years halved the risk of ovarian cancer.