- September 9, 2016
- Posted by: emobile
- Category: Researcher's Corner
Emobileclinic Researchers Corner
The Annals of Oncology journal has published the finding of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Milan, Italy who opined that the use of birth control pills could be responsible for the drastic reduction in the mortality rate of ovarian cancer in their study.
A cursory look at the World Health Organization data covering year 2002 to 2012 showed that there were a cross national decline in the death rate of ovarian cancer. In the United States, it was 16 percent, 8 percent in Canada, in the European Union recorded 10 percent, the United Kingdom had 22 percent with Denmark and Sweden having 24 percent each, Australia and New Zealand recorded 12 percent, while Japan had 2 percent reduction. The team projected a further reduction in ovarian cancer death in the United States by 15 percent and 10 percent in the European Union as well as Japan in 2020. There was a mixed result in Latin where the trio of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay recorded decreases in ovarian cancer death rates and Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela all had increases from year 2002 to 2012 according to the study.
Although, the study was not set out to prove cause-and-effect relationship, however, it revealed that the use of birth control pills in some parts of the world may account for the reduction in the mortality rate of ovarian cancer. This was the view expressed by the study leader Dr. Carlo La Vecchia, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Milan, Italy, and colleagues.
It must be stressed here that there are other factors that may be responsible for this feat, such as minimal usage of hormone replacement therapy to manage menopausal symptoms and better diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer.
The author of the study believes that indept knowledge on how this cancer can aid preventable causes. , In his words “understanding of preventable causes of this major cancer progresses, early detection strategies are being developed and novel therapeutic options become available, we enhance our ability to reduce ovarian cancer mortality”.
Source:
Annals of Oncology Journal news release dated 6th September, 2016
