A report in the British Medical Journal has shown that overall, women who have taken the oral contraceptive pill do not have an increased risk of developing cancer.

The Royal College of General Practitioners' oral contraception study in the UK began in May 1968. 23,000 women who were never users and 23,000 women who were users (ever users) of the pill were recruited. In the mid 1970s three quarters of the original cohort were flagged at central registries of the UK National Heath Service, so that outcome data (development of cancer or death) could still be obtained, even if the women were no longer followed up by their doctor. 24% of the women could not be flagged for follow up as they or their doctors had left the study before flagging occurred.

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