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Published in: Archives of Osteoporosis 1/2019

01-12-2019 | Review Article

Oral bisphosphonates and incidence of cancers in patients with osteoporosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Yingfang Deng, Zhen Zhang, Xi Jia, Wenke Cheng, Xixi Zhou, Yi Liu, Miaozhou Wang

Published in: Archives of Osteoporosis | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Purpose

Several previous studies have shown that oral bisphosphonates (BPs) are associated with the incidence of 13 specific cancers, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the findings are heterogeneous.

Methods and results

Relevant studies published in databases such as PubMed, Embase database, and Cochrane library were systematically retrieved from inception to August 25th, 2018, regardless of language, by two investigators independently. Afterwards, the maximum adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted from the retrieved studies. Finally, 13 cohort studies involving 1,510,763 participants were enrolled into this meta-analysis. No significant relationship was found between oral BPs and the risk of all-cause cancer in osteoporosis (OP) patients among the entire population (HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.80–1.18; I2 92.5%). Besides, oral BPs could remarkably reduce the incidence of breast cancer (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.68–0.92; I2 54%) and endometrial cancer (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.64–0.96; I2 0%) in postmenopausal OP females. In addition, oral BPs were also found to evidently reduce the incidence of upper gastrointestinal cancer in OP patients among the entire population (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.54–0.98; I2 36.1%). However, oral BPs may lead to increased risk of liver cancer in mixed genders (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.03–2.77; I2 30.7%).

Conclusions

Taken together, oral BPs do not increase the risk of incidence of all-cause cancer; instead, they can reduce the incidence of breast, endometrial, and upper gastrointestinal cancers among the postmenopausal OP females. Our analysis stratified by gender suggests that oral BPs may increase the incidence of liver cancer in mixed genders, while no significant association was observed in females. Careful analysis of post-marketing data should be conducted to address the clinical relevance of our results on the putative association of oral BP use and liver cancer suggested by our meta-analysis.
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Metadata
Title
Oral bisphosphonates and incidence of cancers in patients with osteoporosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors
Yingfang Deng
Zhen Zhang
Xi Jia
Wenke Cheng
Xixi Zhou
Yi Liu
Miaozhou Wang
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
Springer London
Published in
Archives of Osteoporosis / Issue 1/2019
Print ISSN: 1862-3522
Electronic ISSN: 1862-3514
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-018-0552-3

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