Chronic Glucocorticoid Use Raises Risk of Bladder Cancer
Margaret R. Karagas, Ph.D.
Dartmouth Medical School
NIEHS Grants P42ES007373
The most recent study by NIEHS grantee Margaret Karagas at Dartmouth University reports that chronic use of glucocorticoid drugs is a risk factor for bladder cancer. The findings appear in the British Journal of Cancer.
Glucocorticoids are often prescribed for immunosuppressive therapy for organ transplant patients, asthma sufferers, or people with an autoimmune disorder such as rheumatoid arthritis. The study matched 786 bladder-cancer patients to 1,083 control subjects. The risk of bladder cancer was three-fold higher for people who had taken glucocorticoids for more than five years.
These results raise the possibility of an increased risk of bladder cancer from long-term use of glucocorticoids and a potential role of immunological effects in bladder cancer etiology.
Citation: Glucocorticoid therapy and risk of bladder cancer. Dietrich K, Schned A, Fortuny J, Heaney J, Marsit C, Kelsey KT, Karagas MR. Br J Cancer. 2009 Oct 20;101(8):1316-20.
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