A new research study shows that birth control pills can protect women against developing ovarian cancer. The study was published in The Lancet in the Jan. 26 edition and it was carried out by Professor Valerie Beral, from the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit, Oxford University, UK, and several collaborators from Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer.

According to the Associated Press, they analyzed the results of 45 studies of ovarian cancer, which included 23,257 women with the disease and 87,303 women who did not have the disease.

The study’s authors write that the pill has saved the lives 100,000 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, worldwide. "Worldwide, the pill has already prevented 200,000 women from developing cancer of the ovary and has prevented 100,000 deaths from the disease," Professor Beral said. She also added that, "More than 100 million women are now taking the pill, so the number of ovarian cancers prevented will rise over the next few decades to about 30,000 per year."

Birth control pills, used by women for decades to avoid undesired pregnancy, can also be taken to prevent women from dying of ovarian cancer. The study found that women are protected even after 30 years since they stopped taking the pill, although its efficacy diminishes in time.

Other researchers have discovered that the oral contraceptives users are subject to a higher risk of developing cancer of the breast, cervix or central nervous system.

Beral explained that, "There is a slight transient risk of breast cancer and cervical cancer, but that goes away when you stop taking the Pill." She added that "the decrease in ovarian cancer is persistent and long-lasting. The magnitude of this outweighs the other risk.”

According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer in women. Approximately 22,430 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the United States, annually.