BMJ  2007;335:621-622 (29 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39336.503067.BE (published 12 September 2007)

Editorials

Risk of cancer and the oral contraceptive pill

Long term follow-up of women in the UK shows no increased risk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In the preface to the first comprehensive publication from the Royal College of General Practitioners' oral contraception study Sir Richard Doll wrote, "Final judgement [on the safety of the pill] must still await the passage of time, when observations can be made of women who have used the pill for 10 or 20 years."¹ Thirty years later, in this week's BMJ, Hannaford and colleagues² report incidence rates of cancer in relation to use of the pill among women in the study cohort.

Between 1968 and 1969, 45 950 women in the United Kingdom were enrolled in the study, and they were followed for a mean of 24 years. Full assessment of the risk of cancer needs a long follow-up as effects of the pill may persist many years after its use has been stopped. Incidence rates of cancer in women who ever used the pill were compared with rates . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Instituto Chileno de Medicina Reproductiva (ICMER), Jose Ramon Gutierrez 295, Santiago, Chile, ² Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland

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