Combined oral contraceptive use before the first birth and epithelial ovarian cancer risk.

BACKGROUND

Combined oral contraceptive (COC) use reduces epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk. However, little is known about risk with COC use before the first full-term pregnancy (FFTP).

METHODS

This Canadian population-based case-control study (2001-2012) included 854 invasive cases/2139 controls aged ⩾40 years who were parous and had information on COC use. We estimated odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for study site, age, parity, breastfeeding, age at FFTP, familial breast/ovarian cancer, tubal ligation, and body mass.

RESULTS

Among parous women, per year of COC use exclusively before the FFTP was associated with a 9% risk reduction (95% CI=0.86-0.96). Results were similar for high-grade serous and endometrioid/clear cell EOC. In contrast, per year of use exclusively after the FFTP was not associated with risk (aOR=0.98, 95% CI=0.95-1.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Combined oral contraceptive use before the FFTP may provide a risk reduction that remains for many years, informing possible prevention strategies.