Cancer risk for long-term pill users

Taking the contraceptive pill on a long-term basis may almost double the risk of women developing cancer, researchers said today.

Women who take the Pill for longer than five years stand a higher chance of being diagnosed with the disease, according to a report by the World Health Organisation published today.

It is the first time a causal link between the Pill and cancer of the cervix has been seen as "likely", said Dr Timothy Farley, of the WHO's department of reproductive health and research in Geneva.

Cervical cancer still kills about 1,300 women in Britain each year. However, UK experts have called for calm among Pill users and said any increased risk would be offset by the cervical cancer screening programme, which has dramatically reduced the number of women getting the disease.

The WHO established a 20-strong panel of international experts, including British specialists, to review studies over the past 30 years. The group also considered new evidence from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, due to be published in The Lancet this week.

Professor Philip Hannaford, professor of primary care at Aberdeen University and a panel member, said researchers had found for the first time that a causal link between the Pill and cervical cancer is "likely".

The review concluded that the chance of developing the disease could be double among some women.

Other factors, such as the age of first sexual activity, smoking and the number of partners have been identified as possible links with the disease previously.

The link with the Pill could be because women using it expose themselves to the risk of sexually transmitted disease through unprotected sex, researchers suggested.

The infection HPV (human papilloma virus) can be passed on through unprotected sex and is a primary cause of cervical cancer. Other factors are believed to come into play in women who have HPV and go on to develop cervical cancer - such as smoking. But the WHO review concluded that the Pill may be another factor which triggers some women to develop the disease.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said today: "There is no reason based on research for women to stop using the Pill."

The WHO review comes days after a study found that taking oral contraceptives for many years is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer than previously thought - with women who have taken the Pill 26 per cent more likely to develop the disease.