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Meta-Analysis
. 2015 Oct;94(43):e1619.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000001619.

Oral Contraceptives Use and Liver Cancer Risk: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Ning An  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Oral Contraceptives Use and Liver Cancer Risk: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Ning An. Medicine (Baltimore). 2015 Oct.

Abstract

Studies about the association between oral contraceptives use and liver cancer risk have generated controversial results. Therefore, a meta-analysis of cohort and case-control studies was performed to quantitatively summarize the existing evidence.Eligible studies were identified by a computer search of PubMed and Embase databases and handed-search of reference lists, without any limitations. Study-specific risk estimates (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were combined with random-effects model.A total of 17 articles were included in this meta-analysis. Overall, there was no statistically significant association between oral contraceptives use and liver cancer risk (RR: 1.23, 95% CI: 0.93-1.63). In a dose-analysis of meta-analysis, a linear relationship between oral contraceptives use and liver cancer risk (P for linearity = 0.391) was found, although this correlation was not statistically significant.Oral contraceptives use was not positively associated with the risk of liver cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The literature search process.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Forest plots of risk estimates of the relationship between oral contraceptives use and liver cancer risk.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Dose–response relationship between oral contraceptives use and liver cancer risk.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Sensitivity analyses through exclusion of 1 study at a time to reflect the influence of individual study to the overall results.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Funnel plots for the relationship between oral contraceptives use and liver cancer risk.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Funnel plots with “trim and fill” method for the relationship between oral contraceptives use and liver cancer risk.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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