Women who take the contraceptive pill over several years dramatically increase their risk of cervical cancer, a major study shows.
Researchers found that the risk doubled after 10 years or more of pill use. The study, which pooled data from 12,500 women with cervical cancer in 24 countries, found a strong link between rising risk and length of exposure to the pill.
Taking the pill for five years or less was associated with a 10 percent increased cancer risk, compared with never taking it. The risk elevation soared to 60 percent with five to nine years of use, and doubled at 10 years.
Doctors stressed that it was still unknown to what extent the risk remained after a woman stopped taking the pill. But the findings are robust enough to remove any doubts about a genuine link between oral contraceptives and cervical cancer.
Although previous studies have indicated an association, the evidence was unclear until now.
Researcher Dr. Amy Berrington, from Cancer Research UK's Epidemiology Unit at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, said, "This study shows that use of hormonal contraceptives for long periods of time may increase the risk of cervical cancer."
However, the public health implications of these findings largely depend on whether this risk remains long after the use of hormonal contraceptives has stopped and this cannot be properly evaluated from published data.
"There is some evidence to suggest that the risk may drop after women stop using the pill but further research is needed to confirm this," she said.
She said that the World Health Organization was funding a new investigation to provide answers to this part of the puzzle.
The scientists from Cancer Research in the UK and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France reviewed data from 28 published studies in 24 countries, including Britain and the US.
They reported their findings in the Lancet medical journal. The team found that the longer women used the pill, the greater was their risk of developing cervical cancer. The pattern remained the same even when other risk factors for the disease, such as Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection, smoking habits and numbers of sexual partners were taken into account.
Infection by some types of sexually transmitted HPVs is thought to be the most important trigger for cervical cancer.
But whether women infected with HPV go on to develop the disease may be influenced by other factors, such as using hormonal contraceptives.
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