Study finds IUDs may protect against cervical cancer.

A comprehensive new study from the Keck School of Medicine finds that intrauterine devices (IUDs) may decrease the incidence of cervical cancer by as much as a third, reported the University of Southern California (USC), demonstrating what it termed a dramatic decrease in the incidence of cervical cancer.

The systematic review was published early November in Obstetrics & Gynecology and according to USC, was the first to combine data from multiple IUD and cervical cancer studies. The analysis, said the University, included data from 16 “high quality” observational studies involving some 12,000 women who used IUDs as contraception. USC said of the women who use IUDs, the incidence of cervical cancer was a third less than compared to women who don’t.

According to USC, the number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer is growing steadily. Offering WHO statistics USC said 528,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2012, with 266,000 dying from the disease.

The study's Lead Author and Associate Professor of Clinical Preventive Medicine at the Keck School, Victoria Cortessis, said “the pattern we found was stunning. It was not subtle at all. The possibility that a woman could experience some help with cancer control at the same time she is making contraception decisions could potentially be very, very impactful."

Cortessis explained that in developing countries, where cervical cancer prevention resources are scarce, and where populations are increasing rapidly, contraceptives that offer protection against cervical cancer could potentially have a profound effect. "A staggering number of women in the developing world are on the verge of entering the age range where the risk for cervical cancer is the highest — the 30s to the 60s. Even if the rate of cervical cancer remains steady, the actual number of women with cervical cancer is poised to explode," Cortessis says. "IUDs could be a tool to combat this impending epidemic."