SynthesisEuropean journal of epidemiology2026
Maternal hormonal contraception use and childhood cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European journal of epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Observational studies have linked maternal hormonal contraception use to childhood cancer risk, but findings are inconsistent. A systematic review was conducted of this potential relationship. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases until April 9, 2025. Studies reporting maternal hormonal contraception use before or during pregnancy and childhood cancer risk (0-19 years) were eligible. We included studies providing risk estimates in English or Scandinavian languages. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess study quality. Meta-analysis using fixed and random effects was used to pool relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for childhood cancer according to maternal hormonal contraception use (1) up to or during pregnancy, and (2) exclusively during pregnancy. We included 27 studies (24 case-control and 3 cohort), totaling 11,067 childhood cancer cases. Maternal hormonal contraception use up to and during pregnancy increased risk of any childhood cancer (RR = 1.18; 95% CI = 1.10-1.26), leukemia (RR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.06-1.45), and lymphoid leukemia (RR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.06-1.28). Exposures during pregnancy showed higher risk estimate for any cancer (RR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.12-1.56) and leukemia (RR = 1.63; 95% CI = 1.07-2.49). Most studies were moderate (70%) or high (26%) quality. Maternal hormonal contraception use may increase childhood cancer risk, particularly for leukemia, and during pregnancy. Further prospective studies are needed, focusing on specific hormonal contraception substances and exposure timing.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41524887What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.