Skip to main content
Home
  • Affected by Cancer
  • Healthy Living
  • Clinical Best Practice
  • Research & Data
  • Publications & Resources
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Affected by Cancer
    • What is cancer
    • Cancer A-Z
    • Cancer statistics
    • Check your cancer risk online
    • Treatment
    • Living with cancer
    • Life after cancer
    • For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • Cancer support organisations
    • Australian clinical trials
    • Jeannie Ferris Award
    • Bladder cancer
    • Bowel cancer
    • Brain cancer
    • Breast cancer
    • Breast cancer in men
    • Breast cancer in young women
    • Cervical cancer
    • Children's Cancer
    • Endometrial cancer
    • Fallopian tube cancer
    • Gestational trophoblastic disease
    • Gynaecological cancers
    • Head & neck cancers
    • Kidney cancer
    • Leukaemia
    • Liver cancer
    • Lung cancer
    • Lymphoma
    • Melanoma of the skin
    • Mesothelioma
    • Myeloma
    • Neuroendocrine tumours
    • Oesophageal cancer
    • Ovarian cancer
    • Pancreatic cancer
    • Prostate cancer
    • Sarcoma
    • Stomach cancer
    • Testicular cancer
    • Thyroid cancer
    • Unknown primary
    • Uterine sarcoma
    • Vaginal cancer
    • Vulval cancer
  • Healthy Living
    • Lifestyle & risk reduction
    • Screening
  • Clinical Best Practice
    • Cancer types
    • Psychosocial care
    • Multidisciplinary care
    • Cancer learning
    • Australian clinical trials
    • Consumer Engagement
    • Shared cancer follow-up and survivorship care
  • Research & Data
    • Research
    • Grants and funding
    • Support for clinical trials
    • Cancer data
  • Publications & Resources
    • Cancer Australia publications
    • Position statements
    • Clinical Practice Guidelines
    • Cancer Australia websites
    • Cancer risk online tools
    • Other tools and resources
    • Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Services
    • Podcasts
    • Subscribe to our eNewsletter
    • Glossary
  • About Us
    • Strategic Plan 2014-2019
    • Organisational structure
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Position Statements
    • Who we work with
    • Lung Cancer Screening enquiry
    • News
    • Media
    • Campaigns & events
    • Information publication scheme
    • Reconciliation action plan
    • Employment opportunities
    • Contact us

Endometrial cancer

  • Home
  • Types
  • Statistics
  • Risk factors
    • Personal
      • Age
    • Lifestyle
      • Acrylamide in the diet
      • Alcohol
      • Coffee, green tea and black tea
      • Fat in the diet
      • Glycaemic load
      • Overweight and obesity
      • Passive smoking
      • Physical activity
      • Sedentary behaviour
      • Smoking
      • Weight loss
    • Reproductive
      • Age at menopause
      • Age when periods started
      • Breastfeeding
      • Having children
    • Medical history and medications
      • Aspirin and related medicines
      • Diabetes
      • Endometrial hyperplasia and polyps
      • Endometriosis
      • High blood pressure
      • Hormonal treatment for infertility
      • Intrauterine device (IUD) contraception
      • Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) (also known as hormone replacement therapy)
      • Metformin
      • Oral Bisphosphonates
      • Oral contraceptive pill
      • Paracetamol
      • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
      • Selective oestrogen receptor modulators
      • Statins
      • Stress
    • Family history and genetics
      • Mismatch repair gene mutations (Lynch syndrome)
      • PTEN gene mutation (Cowden syndrome)
      • Family history of endometrial cancer or colorectal cancer
    • Understanding risk
    • What you can do
    • Lynch syndrome
  • Symptoms
  • Diagnosis
  • Treatment
  • Finding support
  • Clinical trials
  • Health professionals
  • Home
  • Types
  • Statistics
  • Risk factors
    • Personal
      • Age
    • Lifestyle
      • Acrylamide in the diet
      • Alcohol
      • Coffee, green tea and black tea
      • Fat in the diet
      • Glycaemic load
      • Overweight and obesity
      • Passive smoking
      • Physical activity
      • Sedentary behaviour
      • Smoking
      • Weight loss
    • Reproductive
      • Age at menopause
      • Age when periods started
      • Breastfeeding
      • Having children
    • Medical history and medications
      • Aspirin and related medicines
      • Diabetes
      • Endometrial hyperplasia and polyps
      • Endometriosis
      • High blood pressure
      • Hormonal treatment for infertility
      • Intrauterine device (IUD) contraception
      • Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) (also known as hormone replacement therapy)
      • Metformin
      • Oral Bisphosphonates
      • Oral contraceptive pill
      • Paracetamol
      • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
      • Selective oestrogen receptor modulators
      • Statins
      • Stress
    • Family history and genetics
      • Mismatch repair gene mutations (Lynch syndrome)
      • PTEN gene mutation (Cowden syndrome)
      • Family history of endometrial cancer or colorectal cancer
    • Understanding risk
    • What you can do
    • Lynch syndrome
  • Symptoms
  • Diagnosis
  • Treatment
  • Finding support
  • Clinical trials
  • Health professionals

Search form

  1. Home
  2. Risk factors
  3. Medical history and medications
  4. Oral contraceptive pill
  • Personal
  • Lifestyle
  • Reproductive
  • Medical history and medications
    • Aspirin and related medicines
    • Diabetes
    • Endometrial hyperplasia and polyps
    • Endometriosis
    • High blood pressure
    • Hormonal treatment for infertility
    • Intrauterine device (IUD) contraception
    • Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) (also known as hormone replacement therapy)
    • Metformin
    • Oral Bisphosphonates
    • Oral contraceptive pill
    • Paracetamol
    • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
    • Selective oestrogen receptor modulators
    • Statins
    • Stress
  • Family history and genetics
  • Understanding risk
  • What you can do
  • Lynch syndrome

Oral contraceptive pill

  • A|A
Convincing: There is compelling and consistent evidence that the factor increases or decreases the risk of endometrial cancer. Decreases risk

Using an oral contraceptive* is associated with a decreased risk of endometrial cancer. The longer a woman uses an oral contraceptive, the lower her risk of endometrial cancer becomes. This protective effect continues for several decades after a woman stops using an oral contraceptive.

The risk of endometrial cancer has been shown to be around 30% lower in women who use or have previously used an oral contraceptive compared with women who have never used one. An Australian study estimates that use of combined oral contraceptives prevented about 1038 cases of endometrial cancers in 2013.

However, taking combined oral contraceptives is associated with a small increased risk of breast cancer while a woman is currently using it.

The protective effect of oral contraceptives is likely to be due to their effects on female hormones. Increased activity of the hormone oestrogen is associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer. By reducing the activity of oestrogen, oral contraceptives may reduce the risk of endometrial cancer. 

*Oral contraceptives are also known as birth control pills or ‘the Pill’. Most women use a ‘combined’ oral contraceptive that contains oestrogen and progestogen. Some women (for example women who are breast feeding) use a progestogen-only oral contraceptive.

 
  • Last Updated
  • Relevant Links
updated: Fri, 13/09/2019 - 15:31
  • Cancer Council
  • National Cancer Institute
  • American Cancer Society

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Fallopian tube cancer
  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head & neck cancers
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

Freecall 1800 624 973
+61 2 9357 9400

Level 14, 300 Elizabeth Street,
Surry Hills NSW 2010

Locked Bag 3, Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012

Navigation

  • Affected by Cancer
  • Healthy Living
  • Clinical Best Practice
  • Research & Data
  • Publications & Resources
  • About Us

Contact us

* Denotes mandatory fields
 

By submitting this form, you accept the Cancer Australia privacy policy.

  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Sitemap
Copyright © 2019 - Cancer Australia