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According to Cancer Research UK, doctors diagnose about 9,400 people a year with gliomas and other CNS or intracranial tumours. Now research suggests that long-term users of hormonal contraceptives are nearly twice as likely to develop gliomas as non-users. Using registries in Denmark, researchers identified 317 women aged 15-49 years with a first-time diagnosis of glioma. Women who had ever used hormonal contraceptives were 50 per cent more likely to have a glioma than controls. Women who used hormonal contraception for at least five years were 90 per cent more likely to develop a glioma. The link was stronger for use within the last two to five years (odds ratio [OR] 1.7) than for use more than five years previously (OR 1.2).

The researchers disregarded contraceptive use in the last two years to avoid potential confounders. €It is important to keep this apparent increase in risk in context,€ says David Gaist of Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark. €In a population of women in the reproductive age, including those who use hormonal contraceptives, you would anticipate seeing five in 100,000 people develop a glioma annually, according to the nationwide Danish Cancer Registry. €While we found a statistically significant association between hormonal contraceptive use and glioma risk, a risk-benefit evaluation would still favour the use of hormonal contraceptives in eligible users,€ he commented. (British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology DOI:10.1111/ bcp.12535)

Increased risk of gliomas found