For ever-smokers, there was no association between bisphosphonate use and lung cancer risk.
When looking at lung cancer subtype, the incidences of small cell lung cancer and non–small cell lung cancer were similar in bisphosphonate users, but for never-smokers, bisphosphonate use was also associated with a lower non–small cell lung cancer risk (HR = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.41-0.92; P = .02).
“These observational study findings need to be confirmed. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued safety announcements related to potential risk of long-term bisphosphonate use further studies are warranted to investigate how duration of bisphosphonate use may influence risk of lung cancer and evaluate optimal dose of oral bisphosphonates for lung cancer prevention in older women,” wrote Dr. Tao and her associates.
The study was primarily supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Tao has no disclosures.
SOURCE: Tao MH et al. Ann Oncol. 2018 Mar 29. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdy097.