Long-term Use of Bisphosphonates Lowers Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Bisphosphonates, calcium-regulating drugs that inhibit bone resorption and used in the treatment of hypercalcemia and osteoporosis in humans, have been found to reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer.

In addition to being used for treatment of osteoporosis, bisphosphonates are also used to treat bone metastases caused by breast cancer, and were recently reported to be associated with a reduced risk of the disease. To see if treatment with bisphosphonates would correlate with reduced risk for other types of cancer, investigators at the Technion--Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa, Israel) evaluated the use of bisphosphonates with the risk for developing colorectal cancer.

Data on the long-term use of bisphosphonates before diagnosis by 1,866 postmenopausal female participants was extracted from the Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer (MECC) study, a population-based case-control study in northern Israel.

Results published in the February 14, 2011, online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology revealed that the use of bisphosphonates for more than one year before diagnosis, but not for less than one year, was associated with a significantly reduced relative risk of colorectal cancer. This association remained statistically significant after adjustment in a model for vegetable consumption, sports activity, family history of colorectal cancer, body mass index, and use of low-dose aspirin, statins, vitamin D, and postmenopausal hormones.

Overall, the use of oral bisphosphonates for more than one year was associated with a 59% relative reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer, similar to the recently reported association of this drug class with reduction in breast cancer risk.

"We formerly identified a new class of drugs associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer,” said first author Dr. Gad Rennert, professor of medicine at the Technion--Israel Institute of Technology. "And, now, by showing a similar effect on colorectal cancer risk reduction, we can assume that this class of medications has a broad effect - not necessarily limited to a specific cancer site.”

"While the disease is generally caused by bad dietary habits and lack of physical activity, it can possibly be prevented by several medications, such as aspirin and cholesterol-lowering medication of the statins group,” said Dr. Rennert. "And now, we can add bisphosphonates to the list of tools for potential prevention of colorectal cancer.”

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Technion-Israel Institute of Technology