Hormonal contraceptive use among women with liver tumors: a systematic review

The review was conducted to evaluate from the literature the safety of hormonal methods of contraception in women with liver tumors, specifically in benign and malignant disease.

We searched PubMed and Cochrane databases to find all articles published from database inception through July 2008 that were relevant to hormonal contraception use and liver tumors.

Of 148 articles, three publications of two studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review; both investigated the use of hormonal contraception in women with the benign liver tumor focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH). In one small, retrospective case series, use of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) over a 4-year average follow-up was not associated with a change in either the number or size of hepatic lesions. In another case series, use of either COCs or progestogen-only contraceptives (POCs) after FNH diagnosis had no influence on disease progression or resolution.

The studies identified examined oral contraceptive use among women with FNH. We did not identify any studies of hormonal contraceptive use among women with hepatocellular adenoma or with malignant liver tumors. Limited, poor-quality evidence suggests that for women with FNH, use of low-dose COCs or POCs does not appear to influence either liver lesion resolution or progression.