The Association between Oral Contraceptive Pills and Subtypes of Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Limited studies have been conducted on the effect of oral contraceptive pills on the subgroups of ovarian cancer, so we decided that conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effect of preventive pills on ovarian cancer subgroups. Methods: Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE were searched to identify studies on the association between OCPs and subtypes of ovarian cancer from January 1, 2000, through February 5, 2023. The pooled relative risk (RR) and odds ratio (OR) were used to measure this association. Results: A total of 48 studies were included. In the association between ever-use compared with never-use of OCPs and ovarian cancer risk, the pooled RR in cohort studies was 0.69 95% CI: 0.61, 0.78, and the pooled OR of the case-control studies was 0.64 95% CI: 0.59, 0.69. For the association between OCPs and subtypes of ovarian cancer, there is a significant inverse association between OCPs and serous 0.72 95% CI: 0.23, 0.82 and endometrioid 0.74 95% CI: 0.64, 0.86, but no association between OCPs and clear cell 0.84 95% CI: 0.60, 1.16 and mucinous 0.80 95% CI: 0.63, 1.01. Conclusion: This study shows a statistically significant inverse association between ever-use compared to never-use of OCPs and ovarian cancer risk. Also shows a statistically significant inverse association between serous and endometrioid cancer and OCPs, but no association between OCPs and clear cell and mucinous. © 2024 Tehran University of Medical Sciences.