Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25674736›Full record

ArticleMedicine2015

Is long-term use of benzodiazepine a risk for cancer?

Usman Iqbal, Phung-Anh Nguyen, Shabbir Syed-Abdul, Hsuan-Chia Yang, Chih-Wei Huang, Wen-Shan Jian, Min-Huei Hsu, Yun Yen, Yu-Chuan Jack Li

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Lorazepam Stimulates IL6 Production and Is Associated with Poor Survival Outcomes in Pancreatic Cancer.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.

Usman IqbalFrom the Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (UI, P-AN, SS-A, H-CY, CWH, M-HH, YY, YC(J)L); Institute of Biomedical Informatics, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan (H-CY); School of Health Care Administration, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (W-SJ); Department of Health, Taipei Hospital, Taiwan (M-HH); City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA (YY); Department of Dermatology, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan (Y-C(J)L).
Phung-Anh Nguyen
Shabbir Syed-Abdul
Hsuan-Chia Yang
Chih-Wei Huang
Wen-Shan Jian
Min-Huei Hsu
Yun Yen
Yu-Chuan Jack Li
City of Hope · USInstitute of Informatics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences · SKCity Of Hope National Medical Center · USNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung University · TWTaipei Hospital · TWTaipei Medical University · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The carcinogenicity of benzodiazepines (BZDs) is still unclear. We aimed to assess whether long-term benzodiazepines use is risk for cancer.We conducted a longitudinal population-based case-control study by using 12 years from Taiwan National Health Insurance database and investigated the association between BZDs use and cancer risk of people aged over 20 years. During the study period, 42,500 cases diagnosed with cancer were identified and analyzed for BZDs use. For each case, six eligible controls matched for age, sex, and the index date (ie, free of any cancer in the date of case diagnosis) by using propensity score. For appropriate risk estimation, we observed the outcomes according to their length of exposure (LOE) and defined daily dose (DDD). To mimic bias, we adjusted with potential confounding factors such as medications and comorbid diseases which could influence for cancer risk during the study period. The data was analyzed by using Cox proportional hazard regression and conditional logistic regression.The finding unveils benzodiazepines use into safe and unsafe groups for their carcinogenicity. The use of diazepam (HR, 0.96; 95%CI, 0.92-1.00), chlorodizepoxide (HR, 0.98; 95%CI, 0.92-1.04), medazepam (HR, 1.01; 95%CI, 0.84-1.21), nitrazepam (HR, 1.06; 95%CI, 0.98-1.14), oxazepam (HR, 1.05; 95%CI, 0.94-1.17) found safer among BZDs. However, clonazepam (HR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.09-1.22) were associated with a higher risk for cancers. Moreover, specific cancer risk among BZDs use was observed significantly increased 98% for brain, 25% for colorectal, and 10% for lung, as compared with non-BZDs use.Diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, medazepam, nitrazepam, and oxazepam are safe among BZDs use for cancer risk. Our findings could help physicians to select safer BZDs and provide an evidence on the carcinogenic effect of benzodiazepines use by considering the LOE and DDD for further research.

Indexed as

CarcinogensBenzodiazepinesCase-Control StudiesChlordiazepoxideClonazepamDiazepamFemaleHumansLogistic ModelsLongitudinal StudiesMaleMedazepamMiddle AgedNitrazepamOxazepamProportional Hazards ModelsBenzodiazepinesCarcinogensChlordiazepoxideClonazepamDiazepamMedazepamNitrazepamOxazepam

Identifiers

PMID25674736
PMCPMC4602739
OpenAlexW2002218608

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.