New studies have found that using the contraceptive pill for even just a few years can reduce the risk of developing endometrial (womb) cancer.
The findings show that for every five years of using the contraceptive pill it reduces the risk of womb endometrial cancer by a quarter.
300 women are diagnosed with womb cancer in Ireland each year.
Researchers from the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Endometrial Cancer have estimated that from 1965 to 2014, roughly 400,000 cases of endometrial cancer have been prevented by oral contraception.
Professor Valerie Beral from University of Oxford said: “women who use it in their 20s or younger continue to benefit from it into their 50s, when cancer becomes more common. Previous research has also shown the pill protects against ovarian cancer. People used to worry that the pill might cause cancer, but in the long term the pill reduces the risk of getting cancer”.