Pill's cancer risk 'reversible'

The pill was launched in the UK in 1961

Oral contraceptives increase the risk of developing cervical cancer, but the risk falls once women stop using them, an Oxford-led international study says.
The Lancet study of 52,000 women found the risk increased with the length of time oral contraceptives were used.

But after a 10-year break from the pill, a woman's risk was the same as if she had never taken it, it found.

Experts said the additional risks were small but advised women to have regular cervical screening.

Past work has linked the pill with a higher breast-cancer risk but a lower risk of ovarian and womb cancer.

The international team of researchers looked at more than 52,000 women who had taken part in 24 studies around the world.

They found that for those who had taken the pill for at least five years, the cervical cancer risk increased to twice that of women who had never taken it.

But the risk fell again once women stopped using oral contraceptives and returned to normal by 10 years.

It is not the first time research has shown a link between the pill and cervical cancer but it had been unclear how long any risk lasted for.