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Long-Term Desogestrel Use Linked to Slight Rise in Brain Tumor Risk

The study underscores the importance of reviewing contraceptive plans for women using desogestrel long term.

Woman holding combined oral contraceptive pill.
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Overview

  • The case-control study used French national health data to compare 8,391 women who had surgery for intracranial meningioma with 83,910 matched controls.
  • Continuous use of desogestrel for more than five years was associated with a slight increase in meningioma surgeries, estimated at one additional case per 67,000 users and one per 17,000 long-term users.
  • Risk levels returned to baseline within 12 months of stopping desogestrel, and no elevated tumor risk was found for levonorgestrel-only or estrogen-combined contraceptives.
  • Women older than 45 and those with prior exposure to high-risk progestogens experienced a higher excess risk of developing intracranial meningioma.
  • Investigators recommend discontinuing desogestrel upon tumor detection and monitoring patients rather than proceeding directly to surgery, while noting that the observational design cannot establish causation.