{"entity":{"id":"paper-golestan-opium-cancer-lancet-glob-health-2020","kind":"paper","name":"Opium use and subsequent incidence of cancer: results from the Golestan Cohort Study","aka":[],"tldr":"In 50,045 adults followed for a median of ten years in north-east Iran, regular opium use was linked to more cancers of the gullet, stomach, lung, bladder and voice box, rising with dose.","summary":"The Golestan Cohort Study enrolled 50,045 people aged 40 to 75 in north-east Iran and recorded opium use, diet, lifestyle and other exposures with validated questionnaires at enrolment. Over a median ten years of follow-up, 1,833 were diagnosed with cancer, and proportional hazards models estimated the association between opium use and each cancer. The study was funded by World Cancer Research Fund International, Cancer Research UK, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, the US National Cancer Institute and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"Lancet Glob Health 2020","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30059-0"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32353313/"},{"label":"IARC Monographs Vol 126 group, Carcinogenicity of opium consumption (Lancet Oncol 2020)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30611-2"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["esophageal","gastric","lung-cancer","urothelial"],"sections":["prevention"],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["iarc"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"The Lancet Global Health","year":2020,"doi":"10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30059-0","pmid":"32353313","authors":"Sheikh M, Shakeri R, Poustchi H, et al.","paperType":"observational","findings":["Opium use was associated with all cancers combined (hazard ratio 1.40, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.58), gastrointestinal cancers (1.31) and respiratory cancers (2.28), in a dose-dependent manner.","By site: oesophageal 1.38, gastric 1.36, lung 2.21, bladder 2.86 and laryngeal 2.53; only high-dose use was associated with pancreatic cancer (2.66).","Associations held among never and ever tobacco users, men and women, and lower and higher socioeconomic groups."],"whatItMeans":"With the International Agency for Research on Cancer's 2020 classification of opium consumption as carcinogenic to humans, it makes opium a cancer-prevention target in Iran alongside tobacco.","caveats":["An observational cohort: opium use was self-reported at enrolment and residual confounding cannot be excluded.","Results come from one region of Iran."],"participants":50045},"route":"/key-papers/paper-golestan-opium-cancer-lancet-glob-health-2020/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"urothelial","kind":"cancer","name":"Bladder & urothelial cancer","route":"/cancers/urothelial/"},{"id":"gastric","kind":"cancer","name":"Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer","route":"/cancers/gastric/"},{"id":"lung-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Lung cancer (all types)","route":"/cancers/lung-cancer/"},{"id":"esophageal","kind":"cancer","name":"Oesophageal cancer","route":"/cancers/esophageal/"}],"section":[{"id":"prevention","kind":"section","name":"Prevention & Risk","route":"/fronts/prevention/"}],"institution":[{"id":"tehran-cancer-institute","kind":"institution","name":"Cancer Institute of Iran, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex","route":"/institutions/tehran-cancer-institute/"},{"id":"iarc","kind":"institution","name":"International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)","route":"/institutions/iarc/"},{"id":"iran-mohme","kind":"institution","name":"Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran","route":"/institutions/iran-mohme/"}]}}