Osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates double risk of esophageal cancer

People who take a commonly used class of osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates for more than five years may be doubling their risk of getting esophageal cancer (cancer of the gullet), a British study found on Friday. Use of the medicines is associated with inflammation of the esophagus, as well as nausea and heartburn.

The overall risk of cancer is still low, Jane Green, an epidemiologist and the study’s lead author, said in an accompanying statement. Green and colleagues examined records of 2,954 patients with esophageal cancer, 2,018 patients with stomach cancer, and 10,641 with colon cancer, along with five controls for each of these cases matched for age, sex, observation time prior to diagnosis and practice location.

Typically, the chance of getting cancer of the esophagus, in people aged 60 to 79, is one in 1,000. The team confirmed people who had had 10 or more prescriptions for bisphosphonates written for them, or had received prescriptions for these drugs over approximately five years, had nearly double the risk of esophageal cancer, compared with people who didn’t take these drugs. For those taking the drugs for at least three years (five years on average), the risk was more than double compared with those who had never had a prescription for the drugs.

Survival rates are low compared to other cancers, with only three in 10 surviving more than a year after diagnosis.