{"title":"Beyond the pill: contraception and the prevention of hereditary ovarian cancer.","authors":"Yue Yin Xia, Joanne Kotsopoulos","doi":"10.1186/s13053-022-00227-z","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers face an elevated lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer. Oral contraceptives have been shown to significantly decrease the risk of ovarian cancer by approximately 50% in this high-risk population. Changes in contraceptive formulations and patterns of use over time have introduced lower hormonal dosages, different steroid types and non-oral routes of administration. Specifically, there has been a considerable shift in patterns of contraceptive use and the increase in the uptake of non-oral, long-acting, reversible contraception (e.g., intrauterine devices, implants, injections) has corresponded to a decline in oral contraceptive pill use. Whether or not these other methods confer a protective effect against ovarian cancer in the general population is not clear. To our knowledge, there have been no such studies conducted among BRCA mutation carriers. Furthermore, the impact of these changes on the risk of developing ovarian cancer is not known. In this article, we will review the existing epidemiologic evidence regarding the role of contraceptives and the risk of ovarian cancer with a focus on women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. We will discuss recent findings and gaps in the knowledge while extrapolating from studies conducted among women from the noncarrier population.</p>","PeriodicalId":55058,"journal":{"name":"Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9169328/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13053-022-00227-z","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers face an elevated lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer. Oral contraceptives have been shown to significantly decrease the risk of ovarian cancer by approximately 50% in this high-risk population. Changes in contraceptive formulations and patterns of use over time have introduced lower hormonal dosages, different steroid types and non-oral routes of administration. Specifically, there has been a considerable shift in patterns of contraceptive use and the increase in the uptake of non-oral, long-acting, reversible contraception (e.g., intrauterine devices, implants, injections) has corresponded to a decline in oral contraceptive pill use. Whether or not these other methods confer a protective effect against ovarian cancer in the general population is not clear. To our knowledge, there have been no such studies conducted among BRCA mutation carriers. Furthermore, the impact of these changes on the risk of developing ovarian cancer is not known. In this article, we will review the existing epidemiologic evidence regarding the role of contraceptives and the risk of ovarian cancer with a focus on women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. We will discuss recent findings and gaps in the knowledge while extrapolating from studies conducted among women from the noncarrier population.
期刊介绍:
Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice is an open access journal that publishes articles of interest for the cancer genetics community and serves as a discussion forum for the development appropriate healthcare strategies.
Cancer genetics encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and knowledge in the field is rapidly growing, especially as the amount of information linking genetic differences to inherited cancer predispositions continues expanding. With the increased knowledge of genetic variability and how this relates to cancer risk there is a growing demand not only to disseminate this information into clinical practice but also to enable competent debate concerning how such information is managed and what it implies for patient care.
Topics covered by the journal include but are not limited to:
Original research articles on any aspect of inherited predispositions to cancer.
Reviews of inherited cancer predispositions.
Application of molecular and cytogenetic analysis to clinical decision making.
Clinical aspects of the management of hereditary cancers.
Genetic counselling issues associated with cancer genetics.
The role of registries in improving health care of patients with an inherited predisposition to cancer.