Cervical cancer and hormonal contraceptives: collaborative reanalysis of individual data for 16 573 women with cervical cancer and 35 509 women without cervical cancer from 24 epidemiological studies.

The article presents the results of a study on the link between cervical cancer and hormonal contraceptives. The International Agency for Research on Cancer says that combined oral contraceptives are a cause of cervical cancer but because the incidence of cervical cancer increases with age, long after the use of oral contraceptives has ceased by women, the authors sought to see if the effects of oral contraceptives can last that long in a body. The analyzing of data from 24 world wide studies showed that the risk of cervical cancer did increase in current users of oral contraceptives but declines after the woman ceases taking them. Ten years of oral contraceptive use appears to increase the risk of cancer by the age of 50.