Cancer of the cervix and the smoking husband.

Information was gathered on 22 patients with in situ and 11 patients with invasive carcinoma of the cervix as part of a 20-year follow up study. Patients were compared with 29 controls who had had hysterectomies for non-cancer reasons. A significant relationship was found between the amount of cigarets smoked by the husband and the occurrence of cancer of the cervix in the wife. When compared with other risk factors, data showed a smoking husband to be the most significant indicator of whether or not a woman developed cancer of the cervix.