A medical study shows taking the contraceptive pill does not increase a woman's chance of developing cancer and could even reduce the risk of getting the killer disease by 12 percent, media reported Thursday.

Researchers in UK who studied the records of 46,000 women over a 36-year period found that taking the oral contraceptive for up to eight years did not lead to an increased risk of cancer over a woman's lifetime.

Researchers found that there was no overall increased risk of cancer among pill users and that taking the pill could cut the risk by up to 12 percent in some cases.

"It is pretty small, but if you take that across 3 million women in Britain and 100 million women throughout the world actually a small risk translates into major benefits," said Philip Hannaford of Aberdeen University in Britain. 

"Many women, especially those who used the first generation of oral contraceptives many years ago, are likely to be reassured by our results," the authors of the report said.

Evidence also suggested that women were protected from the risk of developing cancers for at least 15 years after stopping.

Since its introduction in the early 1960s, more than 300 million women are thought to have used oral contraception, often for prolonged periods.

(Agencies via Xinhuanet September 13, 2007)