Heavy marijuana use linked to bladder cancer
- From: "Roman Bystrianyk" <rbystrianyk@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 5 Feb 2006 17:46:33 -0800
"Heavy marijuana use linked to bladder cancer", Reuters UK, February 3,
2006,
Link:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-02-03T181519Z_01_COL365758_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-MARIJUANA-BLADDER-DC.XML&archived=False
Pot smokers could be putting themselves at risk for developing bladder
cancer, according to the results of a study of middle-aged men who were
seen at two Veterans Administration facilities.
Marijuana smoking "might be an even more potent stimulant" of
malignancy than cigarette smoking, Dr. Martha K. Terris of the Medical
College of Georgia in Augusta and her colleagues write in the medical
journal Urology.
Terris and her team point out that head and neck and lung cancers have
been tied to marijuana use, and there is evidence that these
marijuana-associated malignancies may strike at an earlier age.
To determine if marijuana use might also be associated with bladder
cancer, she and her colleagues evaluated 52 men with the disease who
were all younger than 60 years, along with 104 age-matched controls.
Among the men with bladder cancer, 88.5 percent were habitual marijuana
smokers, compared with 69.2 percent the controls.
The average quantity of marijuana use also was higher in the men with
bladder cancer, the investigators found. The cancer group clocked up an
average of 48 joint-years per patient -- i.e., the individuals smoked
the equivalent of 1 joints a day for 48 years, or 2 joints a day for 24
years, etc. -- while the comparison group reported an average of 28.5
joint-years.
Tobacco use was also heavy among the study subjects, with more than 90
percent of the men in either group using tobacco, making it impossible
to identify any link between cigarettes and cancer risk.
Marijuana could be more cancer-promoting than tobacco, the
investigators note, given its longer half-life (up to 60 hours versus
12 hours) and the fact that marijuana is smoked without a filter and
held longer in the lungs.
The drug also reduces bladder contractility, the researchers add, which
could increase urine retention and thus greater exposure of the bladder
to marijuana compounds.
They advise that younger patients with symptoms that might suggest
bladder cancer, who aren't usually considered at high risk, "should be
questioned about a history of marijuana use." If they answer
positively, the researchers conclude, it might be advisable to conduct
further tests.
SOURCE: Urology, January 2006.
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