“Our results show clearly, for the first time, that the protective effect of the pill on endometrial cancer lasts for over 30 years”, Beral said.
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Endometrial cancer incidence – particularly aggressive subtypes of the disease – is rising among all women in the U.S., according to the researchers. Now, new research suggests that race may play a significant role in the risk of death that these women face.
The incidence of endometrial cancers is elevated for women across all racial/ethnic groups, while non-Hispanic black women have excess incidence.
The authors say several factors might be to blame, among them socioeconomic status, access to care and treatment decisions – but they add that a conclusive cause for this disparity is not yet clear.
Michele Cote, a researcher at WSU’s Karmanos Cancer Institute, led a team of scientists in examining data collected from cancer registries between 2000 and 2011. In addition, black women appear more likely to get the most aggressive types of tumors and die from the disease. The research suggests that an oral contraceptive can have long lasting affects such as protection against endometrial cancer.
One limitation of the study, the researchers acknowledge, is that they couldn’t review lab tests of tumors to verify the precise type of tumor and stage of cancer women had.
As for the odds of surviving the cancer, when compared to non-Hispanic white women, researchers found that the five-year survival for black women were poorer in nearly every stage and subtype. However, the reports are taking a positive turn as a recent research reveals pill users cuts down risks of having endometrial cancer. Excess fat tissue produces more hormones such as insulin and estrogen, which may promote cancer cell growth.
Cancer of the endometrium, which is the lining of the uterus, typically strikes women around age 60, after the end of their reproductive years, according to NCI. The study was published online on August 19 in the in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. Risk factors include obesity, never giving birth, starting menstruation at a younger age, entering menopause at an older age and taking estrogen therapy to ease menopause symptoms. They examined the data of 27,276 women who are positive of the tumors and another 115,743 who are not.
Since the first oral contraceptives were introduced in the 1960s, about 400 million women in high-income countries alone have used the pills, the researchers note in The Lancet Oncology. Half of the participants were at least 63 years old, while half of those who had endometrial cancer were diagnosed by 2001. This reduction of risk is even seen after the woman has stopped using the pill, more than three decades later.
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Oral contraceptive was associated with 31% lower lifetime risk of developing endometrial carcinomas, 17% with lower risk of common sarcomas.
