Birth Control Pills Linked to Cervical CancerAccording to a study conductes by an International group of scientists, released in May 2002: the long-term use of birth control pills increased the risk of cervical cancer up to fourfold in women infected with certain strains of HPV who have been taking the pill for over 10 years and up to a threefold incidence in women taking the pill for 5 to 9 years.
The study was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World health Organization.
The key issue was: Nearly all sexually active women will be infected with HPV sometime during their lives and it is usually eliminated by their immune system. Why, in some cases does the infection persist and increase the chances of developing into cancer.
It was found that in women using the pill for more than 5 years who were infected with HPV, the HPV infection persisted instead of being eliminated by the immune system and increased the incidence of cervical cancer at a rate 3 and 4 times higher than women who had never taken the pill. The increased risk held for up to 14 years after stopping the pill.
In the study, researchers looked at data from eight studies involving 3769 women from 4 continents.
In France researchers looked at eight previous studies that provided health data on more than 1,800 international women that had cervical cancer or a precursor to cancer. They were compared to women without the cancer. More than 50% of the women overall were infected with HPV. But women with cervical cancer were much more likely to have the infection. And the combination of the virus plus using birth control pills had a big impact on cervical cancer.
Based on the results from these new studies, it may be logical to conclude that HPV infection together with oral contraceptives may be promoting the rate at which the infection progresses to cancer.
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