Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32140806›Full record

SynthesisArchives of gynecology and obstetrics2020

Use of oral contraceptives in BRCA mutation carriers and risk for ovarian and breast cancer: a systematic review.

D Huber, S Seitz, K Kast, G Emons, O Ortmann

Erratum issuedOpen access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
7.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Impact ofDiseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  10. Assessment of knowledge and awareness about ovarian cancer and its risk factors among women in Jazan, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2025
    Article
  11. Estrogens and breast cancer.Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology · 2025
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Prevention of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine · 2023
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

D Huber *Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
S Seitz *Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
K KastDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
G EmonsDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Georg August University Göttingen, University Medicine, Göttingen, Germany.
O OrtmannDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. olaf.ortmann@klinik.uni-regensburg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6238-3949
University Hospital Regensburg · DEUniversity Hospital Carl Gustav Carus · DEUniversity of Göttingen · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeBRCA mutation carriers have an increased risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. Oral contraception (OC) is known to increase breast cancer and reduce ovarian cancer risk in the general population. This review analyses the published data on OC and risk of cancer in BRCA mutation carriers.

methodsWe included all relevant articles published in English from 1995 to 2018. Literature was identified through a search on PubMed and Cochrane Library.

resultsWe included four meta-analyses, one review, one case-control study and one retrospective cohort study on the association between ovarian cancer and OC in BRCA mutation carriers. All report a risk reduction for the OC users and several also describe an inverse correlation with duration of use. Regarding breast cancer, we included four meta-analyses, one review, one case-control study, two case-only studies, one prospective and one retrospective cohort study. Some studies report a risk elevation, while others did not find an association between OC use and breast cancer in BRCA mutation carriers. In other studies, the association was limited to early-onset breast cancer and/or associated with young age at first start of OC.

conclusionOral contraception leads to a risk reduction of ovarian cancer also in BRCA mutation carriers. An increase in breast cancer risk due to OC cannot be excluded. Women with BRCA mutation who consider OC use have to be informed about possible increase in breast cancer risk and alternative contraceptive methods. OC should not be used for the prevention of ovarian cancer in this population.

Indexed as

AdultBreast NeoplasmsCase-Control StudiesContraceptives, OralFemaleHumansMutationOvarian NeoplasmsProspective StudiesRetrospective StudiesContraceptives, OralBRCA1BRCA2Breast cancerOral contraceptionOvarian cancer

Identifiers

PMID32140806
PMCPMC8494665
OpenAlexW3010350454

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.