Women who take contraceptives over a long period face a very small increased risk of developing brain cancer, researchers have reported.
Danish researchers have found a link with a brain cancer called glioma.
But, they say, the slight increased risk should not put women off using contraceptives.
The research, in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, involved some 317 women aged between 15 and 49 who developed glioma in the first decade of the century. The researchers compared each of the women with eight women unaffected by the disease, but of the same age, to establish the link with contraceptives.
They say the link is statistically significant.
Researcher Dr David Gaist, of the Odense University Hospital and University of Southern Denmark, said he hoped the findings would trigger more research into the link between female hormones and the brain cancer.
He said: “It is important to keep this apparent increase in risk in context.
"In a population of women in the reproductive age, including those who use hormonal contraceptives, you would anticipate seeing five in 100,000 people develop a glioma annually, according to the nationwide Danish Cancer Registry.
“While we found a statistically significant association between hormonal contraceptive use and glioma risk, a risk-benefit evaluation would still favour the use of hormonal contraceptives in eligible users."
Hormonal contraceptive use and risk of glioma among younger women: a nationwide case-control study. BJCP 22 January 2015; doi: 10.1111/bcp.12535
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