The new research from Oxford University proposed that long term use of bone strengthening medicines which are used to treat fractures can increase the risk of esophageal cancer. The study over three thousand people who take bisphosphonates which is prescribed for preventing bone fractures, for five years, increased the risk of cancer from one in one thousand for aged sixty to eighty.
The risk seemed to be small but consistent information on risks and benefits was required. The cases of taking the bisphosphonates drug would be strong for many, explained study experts. It is not known why the risk may be increased, though the drugs are known to infuriate the oesophagus, explained Dr Laura Bell from Cancer Research UK.
Thousands of cases of colorectal and stomach cancer were also premeditated but there was not found any increased risk. Anybody taking these drugs and is anxious about their risk of cancer should talk to their doctor, added Dr Laura Bell.
Even if results were confirmed by other studies, a small number of people taking bisphosphonates would ever develop the cancer. Bisphosphonates are being progressively more prescribed to prevent fracture and what is deficient is consistent information on the benefits and risks of their use in the long term, explained lead researcher Dr Jane Green.
Approximately more than six lakh people in UK are presently taking the drugs that include a tenth of all women over the age of seventy. It is a case of harmonizing the abridged danger of fractures against the side effects of the treatment, said The National Osteoporosis Society.
You have completely misquoted Dr Laura Bell from Cancer Research UK. Please would you delete the paragraphs attributed to her “explanation” and replace with the original quote issued by Cancer Research UK which reads as follows:
Dr Laura Bell, science information officer at Cancer Research UK said: “This is an important study that will help doctors understand more about the risks and benefits of oral bisphosphonates but it’s important to stress that even if people take oral bisphosphonates for a long time the risk of developing oesophageal cancer is still small. Anyone who is taking these drugs and is worried about their risk of cancer should talk to their doctor.
“Earlier this week Cancer Research UK reported that oesophageal cancer rates in men had increased by 50 per cent in the last 25 years with obesity and increasing age believed to be major risk factors. Each year around 8,000 people are diagnosed with the disease of whom 5,226 are men. Oesophageal cancer is the ninth most common cancer but affects very few people under 40.”
Thank you.
Sally Staples
Health Press Manager
Cancer Research UK