CHAMGAP
VERIFIEDPassed the Codex final verification and publication gate. Evidence-verification cutoff: 2026-08-07. AI was used for research and drafting; the existence of all 3 cited sources was verified at the original page, followed by blind grading, adversarial audit, and build validation. Methodology v1.0.
Verdict No. 2354 · Search date 2026-08-07 · Methodology v1.0

Oral contraceptives,
does it really help with Reduced ovarian-cancer incidence?

30-Second Summary
C
Evidence Grade C · 56 · Safety caution
The association is large and persistent but remains observational rather than randomized evidence.
Combined oral contraceptives increase venous-thromboembolism risk, and eligibility varies with smoking, age, migraine with aura, and thrombotic history. Breast- and cervical-cancer evidence also belongs in counseling.
What the
research shows
C. A collaborative individual-data reanalysis of 45 observational studies, 23,257 cases, and 87,303 controls found RR 0.73 (0.70–0.76) for ever use. Duration response and persistence are strong, but this was not randomized.
What the
ads claim
Large relative reductions should be presented alongside low absolute baseline risk and other contraceptive risks.
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Useful facts when choosing a product

  • The design composition was 13 prospective, 19 population-control case-control, and 13 hospital-control case-control studies.
  • Adjustment for 12 additional potential confounders changed the 20%-per-five-years estimate by less than one percentage point.
  • Breast- and cervical-cancer evidence concerns different endpoints and was not graded here.
ID

Chamgap Semantic Classification Code

Candidate index · review held

UNK.contraceptives.oral.ovarian-cancer-incidence.reduce.UNK

Unknown > contraceptives > Oral > ovarian-cancer incidence > Reduction claim > Unknown

An automated migration candidate, not an issued permanent code; exact claim scope remains under review. This machine-generated migration candidate helps retrieval but is not a permanent assignment. The original verdict ID and URL remain authoritative.

Download semantic index (JSON) · Codebook v1

Gap Measurement · Verdict 2354 · C 56
What advertising claims
What independent, higher-quality research supports
△ GAP
01

What the research actually shows

This was a pooled reanalysis, not an RCT. Ever use was reported by 31% of cases and 37% of controls. In high-income countries, ten years of use was estimated to lower ovarian-cancer risk before age 75 from about 1.2% to 0.8%, and mortality from 0.7% to 0.5%.

02

Why this is classified as C (56)

Hard cancer incidence, scale, consistency, and duration response are strong, but lack of randomization and avoidable recall, selection, and residual-confounding concerns yield C with 56 points.

Counterpoint. Absolute benefit may be larger in genetically high-risk women, with a different balance of harms.

Rejudgment record. New verdict — Accepted the strong duration-response association in pooled individual observational data while accounting for nonrandomization, recall, selection, and residual confounding

Stored scoring profile
EndpointHHard endpoint - actual events such as death
ReplicationR1Single confirmatory trial
IndependenceI2Decisive evidence is publicly or non-profit funded
Effect sizeE+Meets the clinically important threshold

Stored derived and displayed grades match; this is not a current recalculation or validity check (C).

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Sub-claim grades by effect

This ingredient is marketed for several effects. A single overall grade blends strong and weak claims together, so each effect is graded separately here. The overall grade reflects the strongest disconfirming or core claim.

Effect (sub-claim)GradeBasis
Reduced ovarian-cancer incidenceCDuration response in observational evidence
✓

Cross-check — AI research and Codex final gate

AI was used for research and drafting. Blind grading, adversarial audit, and the methodology boundary rules were then reapplied before Codex performed the final evidence, grade, copy, and build checks. If a grade cannot be narrowed, both evidence positions and their reasons are published.
03

Evidence Table

StudyDesignSampleFundingEndpointResultWeight
Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer, 2008Collaborative individual-data reanalysis of 45 observational studies23,257 cases and 87,303 controlsCancer Research UK and Medical Research CouncilIncident ovarian cancerEver-use RR 0.73 (0.70–0.76); 20% reduction per five yearsDecisive observational evidence
§

Receipt — 3 References

All 3 cited sources were verified for existence at the original page (as of 2026-08-07).

Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer. Ovarian cancer and oral contraceptives: collaborative reanalysis of data from 45 epidemiological studies including 23,257 women with ovarian cancer and 87,303 controls. Lancet. 2008;371:303-314. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60167-1.
checked
Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Breast cancer and hormonal contraceptives: collaborative reanalysis of individual data on 53,297 women with breast cancer and 100,239 women without breast cancer from 54 epidemiological studies. Lancet. 1996;347(9017):1713-1727. PMID: 8656904. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(96)90806-5.
checked
International Collaboration of Epidemiological Studies of Cervical Cancer. Cervical cancer and hormonal contraceptives: collaborative reanalysis of individual data for 16,573 women with cervical cancer and 35,509 women without cervical cancer from 24 epidemiological studies. Lancet. 2007;370:1609-1621. PMID: 17993361. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61684-5.
checked
Research and draft: AI used · Cross-check: blind grading and adversarial audit
Final verification and publication gate: Codex · Evidence date: 2026-08-07 · Corrections: none
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Cite this verdict

Oral contraceptives × reduced ovarian-cancer incidence Evidence Grade C card
[Chamgap] Oral contraceptives × reduced ovarian-cancer incidence — Evidence Grade C·56. 3 cited sources checked. Source: https://chamgap.com/en/verdicts/womens/oral-contraceptives-ovarian-cancer-incidence/ · CC BY 4.0

CC BY 4.0 — free to use with attribution; do not distort grades, numbers, or verdict meaning.

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What this document does and does not do

Chamgap is an information source. It reports what research has and has not confirmed; it does not tell readers what to take or buy. That decision belongs to readers and, when needed, medical or legal professionals. This verdict reflects literature available up to the search date and may change as new research appears. Nothing here is medical advice.
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