In 1966, the management of the academic department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of The University of Auckland located at National Women’s Hospital formalised a proposal for prospective research into the ‘natural history’ of Carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the cervix. The study was to examine whether women diagnosed with CIS of the cervix went on to develop invasive cancer. In 1984, William McIndoe, the colposcopist at the hospital, Malcolm Mclean the pathologist, and gynaecologist Ron Jones published a paper in the prestigious journal Obstetrics and Gynecology with the help of Auckland University statistician Peter Mullins, which provided a retrospective analysis of the results. They reviewed the cases of 948 patients…