TY - JOUR T1 - Oral contraceptives do not appear to present long-term cancer harms and may even provide protection against some cancers JF - Evidence Based Nursing JO - Evid Based Nurs DO - 10.1136/eb-2017-102771 SP - ebnurs-2017-102771 AU - Tammy O’Rourke Y1 - 2017/11/04 UR - http://ebn.bmj.com/content/early/2017/11/04/eb-2017-102771.abstract N2 - Commentary on: Iverson L, Sivasubramaniam S, Lee AJ, et al. Lifetime cancer risks and combined oral contraceptives: the Royal College of General Practitioners’ oral contraceptive study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2017;216:580:e1–9Nurses and nurse practitioners who prescribe combined oral contraceptive (COCs) and counsel patients about COCs are in a position to ensure balanced discussion as they improve patient knowledge of known benefits and risks.Prescribers presenting health teaching should have an equal focus on the benefits and risks.Future research should include side-by-side comparisons of COCs and other types of fertility control (ie,  long-acting reversible contraceptives and/or vaginal rings) to provide women with the evidence needed to make informed choices about this important aspect of their day-to-day life.Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) have been on the market over 50 years, and generations of women have chosen to control their fertility through daily administration of what we now know as ‘the … ER -