Smoking and carcinoma in situ of the uterine cervix

We carried out a case-control study of 217 cases of in situ carcinoma of the uterine cervix and 243 controls chosen from the general population of Utah. We found a relative risk of 3.0 for cigarette smoking after controlling for sexual and socioeconomic risk factors. The smoking association was strongest in the youngest age group (ages 20-29), reaching seventeenfold, and was weaker in the older age groups. These data suggest that cigarette smoking may be an independent risk factor for cancer of the uterine cervix, after considering sexual behavior and other well-established risk factors.