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EDRI Federal Project Inventory:
63748-03 Oral Contraceptives and Ovarian Cancer
- Sponsor Organization: NIH/NCI
- Project Title: 63748-03 ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES AND OVARIAN CANCER
- Project Focus: HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS
- Description: Ovarian cancer occurs in 20,000 American women per year, 12,000 of
whom will die from this disease. Oralcontraceptives (OCs) which are
commonly used, have been shown to protect against the development of
ovarian cancer. However, up until now, we have known little about the
persistence of the OC effect after cessation of use, theimportance of
age at first use, an the impact of estrogen/progestin potency on
ovarian cancer as a whole, or on differentpathologic types of ovarian
cancer. Because women exposed to the pill are just entering the
period of highest risk forovarian cancer, we now have the first
opportunity to examine these important issues in detail. The overall
objective ofthis project is to evaluate the relationship between long-
term combination oral contraceptive (OC) use and thesubsequent
development of epithelial ovarian cancer. Additionally, this study
will allow the efficient evaluation of otherpossible risk factors for
ovarian cancer. The proposed study is a population-based case-control
investigation. Onethousand hospitalized incident cases of ovarian
cancer will be compared to two thousand community controls withoutthe
disease who will be selected randomly from the community using random
digit dialing. The controls will befrequency matched to the expected
age distribution of the cases using five year age strata. All study
subjects (cases andcontrols) will undergo a structured in-person home
interview. In addition, they will have their medical records
reviewedin order to validate their medical history and information on
prescription drugs received. Finally, they will havepathology slides
reviewed by the study pathologist in order to verify the diagnosis of
epithelial ovarian cancer and toclassify cancers by histologic type.
The occurrence of potential risk factors will be compared for
epithelial ovariancancer cases and controls in age adjusted and
multivariate adjusted analyses. The importance of enhancing
ourunderstanding regarding the relationship between OCs and ovarian
cancer is twofold. First, OCs represent a potentiallyimportant
modifiable protective factor. Second, further understanding of this
relationship will help to clarify thepathogenesis of ovarian cancer.
Equipped with an epidemiologically supported etiologic hypothesis,
scientists candevelop biologic studies more accurately targeting the
process of pathogenesis, and health providers can precisely
aimprevention strategies.
- References:
- Category: MEASUREMENTS
- Subcategory: EXPOSURE AND RISK MODELS
- Keywords for Experimental System/Species: HUMAN
- Keywords for Experimental Endpoints: CARCINOGENESIS, RISK FACTORS, EPIDEMIOLOGY
- Chemical Agents: ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES, ESTROGEN/PROGESTIN
- Performing Institution: UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- Contact: CONTACT PERSON: ELAINE C. LEE; BUILDING 31; 11A21, NATIONAL CANCER
INSTITUTE, NIH,BETHESDA, MD 20892-2590; 301- 496-5515;
LEEE@OD.NCI.NIH.GOV
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