Over the last 3 decades, the number of women who’ve been on the Pill long term being diagnosed with a type of benign liver tumour known as ‘hepatic adenoma’ is on the rise, but doctors aren’t currently advising patients about this possible serious side effect, as it’s thought to be uncommon. It’s been revealed that this understanding is based on information from a 1979 study of 79 women that took place in the United States. Listen to the news podcast to hear from women with the condition and what doctors have to say about it.

References

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Margonis, G.A., Ejaz, A., Spolverato, G., Rastegar, N., Anders, R., Kamel, I.R. & Pawlik, T.M., 2015, ‘Benign Solid Tumors of the Liver: Management in the Modern Era’, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 1157-1168.

Buell, J, Tranchart, H, Cannon, R, & Dagher, I 2010, ‘Management of benign hepatic tumors’, Surgical Clinics of North America, vol. 90, no. 4, pp. 719-735 17p.

Dhingra, S, & Fiel, I 2014, ‘Update on the New Classification of Hepatic Adenomas: Clinical, Molecular, and Pathologic Characteristics’, Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, vol. 138, no. 8, pp. 1090-1097.

Szor, DJ, Ursoline, M, & Herman, P 2013, ‘Hepatic adenoma’, Arquivos Brasileiros De Cirurgia Digestiva: ABCD = Brazilian Archives Of Digestive Surgery, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 219-222.

Reddy, KR, Kligerman, S, Levi, J, Livingstone, A, Molina, E, Franceschi, D, Badalamenti, S, Jeffers, L, Tzakis, A, & Schiff, ER 2001, ‘Benign and solid tumors of the liver: relationship to sex, age, size of tumors, and outcome’, The American Surgeon, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 173-178.

Curry, MP & Afdhal, NH, 2010, Hepatic adenoma, UpToDate, viewed 2 March 2016, http://www.uptodate.com/contents/hepatic-adenoma