ArticleThe Lancet. Global health2020
Opium use and subsequent incidence of cancer: results from the Golestan Cohort Study.
Article in The Lancet. Global health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of opium use and use disorder in the Iranian population: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Risk of cancer incidence and mortality in patients with chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The significant impact of opium use on various types of cancer: an updated - systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of tobacco use among cancer patients in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- The carcinogenicity of opium consumption: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of epidemiology · 2023Pooled it
- Opium Use and Cancer Risk: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.International journal of clinical practice · 2022Pooled it
- Opium Usage and Risk of Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2021Pooled it
- Lipid profile dysregulation in opium users based on Fasa PERSIAN cohort study results.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Global, regional, and national burdens of bladder cancer in individuals aged 60 years and older from 1990 to 2021: a cross-sectional study.International urology and nephrology · 2026Article
- A pilot multiplex salivary transcriptomic analysis to understand the sex-specific effects of maternal opioid use in offspring.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Estimating opium use prevalence at the national and provincial levels in Iran: a modelling study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Opioid biomarkers in urine as reliable and valid correlates of opium use characteristics: A 10-year longitudinal assessment.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Regular use of pharmaceutical opioids and subsequent risk of cancer: a prospective cohort study and Mendelian randomization analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Liquid Biopsies in Head and Neck Cancers: Recent Developments Across Biofluids, Analytes, and Molecular Features.Head & neck · 2025Review
- Regulatory role of N-nitroso compounds and lncRNA NEAT1 in endoplasmic reticulum stress and malignant transformation of gastric epithelial cells.Cancer cell international · 2025Article
- Dietary Intake of Animal and Plant Proteins and Risk of Gastrointestinal Cancer Mortality: Results from the Golestan Cohort Study.The Journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- A Pilot Multiplex Salivary Transcriptomic Analysis to Understand the Sex-specific Effects of Maternal Opioid Use in Offspring.Research square · 2025Article
- Associations between Opium Route of Use and Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons as Potential Carcinogenicity Mechanism.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2025Article
- Dietary pattern and odds of lung cancer: a large case-control study in Iran.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
25 authors at 10 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEvidence is emerging for a role of opiates in various cancers. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between regular opium use and cancer incidence.
methodsThis study was done in a population-based cohort of 50 045 individuals aged 40-75 years from northeast Iran. Data on participant demographics, diet, lifestyle, opium use, and different exposures were collected upon enrolment using validated questionnaires. We used proportional hazards regression models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% CIs for the association between opium use and different cancer types.
findingsDuring a median 10 years of follow-up, 1833 participants were diagnosed with cancer. Use of opium was associated with an increased risk of developing all cancers combined (HR 1·40, 95% CI 1·24-1·58), gastrointestinal cancers (1·31, 1·11-1·55), and respiratory cancers (2·28, 1·58-3·30) in a dose-dependent manner (p
interpretationOpium users have a significantly higher risk of developing cancers in different organs of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems and the CNS. The results of this analysis show that regular use of opiates might increase the risk of a range of cancer types.
fundingWorld Cancer Research Fund International, Cancer Research UK, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, US National Cancer Institute, International Agency for Research on Cancer.
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Registered trials
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.