Nov. 8, 2007 -- Women who use oral contraceptives have an increased risk of developing cervical cancer, but the risk drops quickly once the pill is stopped.

Taking oral contraceptives for five or more years was associated with a doubling of cervical cancer risk in the newly published study.

But risk returned to that of never-users within a decade of stopping oral contraceptives.

The new analysis of data from 24 worldwide studies is one of the most rigorous examinations of cervical cancer risk in oral contraceptive users ever conducted.

Epidemiologist Jane Green, MD, who led the study team, tells WebMD that the findings should be seen as good news for women who take the pill or have taken it in the past.

The study is reported in the Nov. 10 issue of the journal The Lancet.

"We have known that women on the combined estrogen pill are at increased risk [for cervical cancer], she says. "What we haven't known is what happens after they stop taking the pill. Now we know that the risk starts to fall pretty quickly and has gone away 10 years later."