The Role of Oral Contraceptive Pills on Increased Risk of Breast Cancer in Iranian Populations: A Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Cancer is one of the main public health issues in the world. Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women. It is also the second cause of mortality in women. The association between the use of oral contraceptive pills and breast cancer is controversial and a main issue in public health. Some findings have shown that taking these pills does not have a significant effect in increasing the risk of breast cancer, while others have confirmed the carcinogenic effect of these products. These contradictory findings necessitated this meta-analysis, through of all correlated studies in Iran. METHODS: All published studies were considered from June 2000 until June 2015, using reliable Latin databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, Google search, Scopus, and Science Direct, and Persian database like SID, Irandoc, IranMedex, and Magiran. Finally, 26 papers were selected: 24 studies were case control while two were population based studies. A total of 26 papers with 46,260 participants were assessed since 2001. RESULTS: Overall estimate of OR for the effect of oral contraceptive pills on breast cancer is 1.521 (CI = 1.25–1.85), which shows that the intervention group had more chance (52%) compared to the control group (P = 0.001). Using these pills increased the risk of breast cancer up to 1.52 times. CONCLUSIONS: Because of directly increasing levels of estrogen and the role of estrogen in gaining weight indirectly, oral contraceptive pills can stimulate the occurrence of breast cancer. More studies should be conducted for controlling the period of pill use.

[Epidemiology of acute flaccid paralysis in Kermanshah province, 2004-2009]

The aim of this study was to determine epidemiologic features of acute flaccid paralysis [AFP] during 2004-2009 in Kermanshah province. This cross-sectional descriptive study was done based on data records from Kermanshah health care center. In total 89 patients, 0- 14 years old were enrolled study, which 36 of them were male and 53 were female. 50.6% of subjects were diagnosed as Guillain-barre, 6.7% transverse synovitis and 5.6% as arthritis. No any cases of poliomyelitis were diagnosed. The prevalence of reported of AFP during 2004-2009 in Kermanshah province was more than expected rate of 1 per 100000 according to WHO