Drugs for Irritable Bowel Might Increase Cancer Risk
MONDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The use of thiopurine drugs to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) increases the risk of cancers related to viral infection, according to a new study.
IBD includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Thiopurine drugs are used to suppress the immune system in order to maintain remission in IBD patients.
For this study, French researchers analyzed data on 19,486 IBD patients (60 percent with Crohn's and 40 percent with ulcerative colitis or unclassified IBD) who were followed for a median of 35 months.
At the start of the study, 30 percent of patients were taking thiopurines, 14 percent had discontinued them, and 56 percent had never received thiopurines. During the study, 23 patients developed malignant lymphoproliferative disorders (LD) -- cancers that are associated with viral infection, particularly those linked to Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection.
Of the 23 patients with LD, 22 had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and one had Hodgkin's lymphoma. Incidence rates of LD were 0.90 per 1,000 patient-years in those receiving thiopurines, 0.20 per 1,000 patient-years in those who'd discontinued the drugs, and 0.26 per 1,000 patient-years in those who'd never taken thiopurines.
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