Background A growing body of research investigates the sexual functioning status in women with contraceptives use; however, the evidence is still inconclusive. Aim To examine whether contraceptives use is associated with a higher risk of female sexual dysfunction (FSD). Methods The electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library databases, and PsychINFO were systematically screened for eligible studies before December 2019. We only included those studies assessing women's sexual functioning by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). This study was registered on the PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020167723, http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO). Outcomes The strength of the association between contraceptives use and risk of FSD was presented by calculating the standard mean dierences (SMDs) and the relative risk (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The pooled results were calculated using a random-effects model. Results A total of 12 studies (7 cross-sectional studies, 3 cohorts, and 1 case-control study) involving 9,427 participants were included. The mean age in the contraceptive users ranged from 22.5 ± 2.4 years to 38.2 ± 4.6 years, while the mean age in the nonusers was 22.5 ± 2.4 years to 36.0 ± 1.0 years. Pooled results showed that no significant difference in the total FSFI scores was observed between contraceptives use and noncontraception (SMD = −1.03, 95% CI: −2.08 to 0.01, P = .053; heterogeneity: I2 = 98.2%, P < .001). In line with this finding, the pooled RR also yielded no association between contraception use and the risk of FSD (RR = 1.29, 95% CI: 0.72–2.28, P = .392; heterogeneity: I2 = 76.0%, P = .0015). However, the subscale sexual desire showed a significant reduction in women who received contraceptives than those did not use contraception (SMD = −1.17, 95% CI: −2.09 to −0.24, P = .014; heterogeneity: I2 = 97.7%, P < .001), while no significant differences were found in sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain domain. Clinical Implications Though evidence from this meta-analysis did not support an association between contraceptives use and the risk of FSD, the sexual desire could be significantly impaired by contraceptives use. Strengths & Limitations This is the first meta-analysis quantifying the relationship between contraceptives use and the risks of FSD. However, substantial heterogeneities were presented across the included studies. Conclusion No direct association between contraceptives use and the risk of FSD was found. Nevertheless, declining sexual desire was significantly associated with contraceptives use. Additional double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials are still warranted.

Cervical cancer is a public health problem of extensive clinical importance. Excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) was found to be a promising biomarker of cervical cancer over the years. At present, there is no relevant review article that summarizes such evidence. In this review, nineteen eligible studies were included for evaluation and data extraction. Based on the data from clinical and experimental studies, ERCC1 plays a key role in the progression of carcinoma of the uterine cervix and the therapeutic response of chemoradiotherapy. The majority of the included studies (13/19, 68%) suggested that ERCC1 played a pro-oncogenic role in both early-stage and advanced cervical cancer. High expression of ERCC1 was found to be associated with the poor survival rates of the patients. ERCC1 polymorphism analyses demonstrated that ERCC1 might be a useful tool for predicting the risk of cervical cancer and the treatment-related toxicities. Experimental studies indicated that the biological effects exerted by ERCC1 in cervical cancer might be mediated by its associated genes and affected signaling pathways (i.e., XPF, TUBB3, and. To move towards clinical applications by targeting ERCC1 in cervical cancer, more clinical, in-vitro, and in-vivo investigations are still warranted in the future.