Is Bisphosphonate Use Associated with Risk for Esophageal Cancer?

Esophageal cancer, although still uncommon in the U.S. and western Europe, has been increasing in incidence for the past 3 decades, particularly because of a dramatic rise in adenocarcinoma. Increasing rates of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), related to population trends in obesity and body-mass index, have likely played a role. Some investigators have speculated that increasing use of oral bisphosphonates might also be a factor. Now, two independent research teams have used the U.K. General Practice Research Database to assess whether bisphosphonate use is associated with risk for developing esophageal cancer.

Using data from 1996 through 2006, one team compared 41,826 patients (81% women) who used bisphosphonates with the same numb…