Popular Bowel Disease Drugs Linked to Increased Cancer Risks

Imuran, azathioprine, and other drugs which reduce the body’s immune system to treat inflammatory bowel disease can increase the risks of patients developing infection-related cancers, according to a new French study.

The drugs belong to a family of medications called thiopurines, which are commonly used to treat a variety of bowel diseases and disorders. Imuran is the brand-name medication made by GlaxoSmithKline, while a handful of generic drug makers produce azathioprine.

Researchers at Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris studied more than 19,000 patients being treated for inflammatory bowel disease. About 30 percent of the patients were taking thiopurines, 14 percent had stopped taking the drugs, and 56 percent had never taken the drugs, according to a Reuters news report.

Study Finds Link to Greater Cancer Risks

When the study checked up on the patients three years after their treatments began, they found 22 new cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas and one new case of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Reserachers also found that patients treated with thiopurines were five-times more likely to develop lymphoma compared to patients who had never taken the drugs.

Older men who had histories of inflammatory bowel disease also were at increased cancer risks, the study found.

Researchers Say Benefits Still Outweigh Risks

Despite the study’s findings of cancers in patients treated with thiopurines, the authors said the benefits of the drugs still outweigh the risks.

“The absolute cumulative risk…in young patients receiving a 10-year course of thiopurines remains low — (less than 1 percent) — and does not undermine the positive risk-benefit ratio of these drugs,” the researchers wrote.

Some researchers who reviewed the French study and commented on its findings agreed that while doctors should exercise caution in using thiopurines for longer periods of time, the slight increase in lymphoma risks associated with their use should not threaten their widespread use.

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