胃藥也可能致癌

A class of drugs commonly used to treat acid reflux and heartburn has been linked to a greater-than-doubled risk of developing stomach cancer, a study has found.

一項(xiàng)研究表明，一種常用來治療胃酸逆流和胃灼熱的藥物可能會(huì)使患胃癌的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)倍增。

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are used to suppress acid production in the stomach and are among the most widely sold drugs in the world, but a 2017 study revealed that long-term use of the medicine can increase stomach cancer risks by almost 250 percent.

質(zhì)子泵抑制劑被用來抑制胃酸的產(chǎn)生，是世界上最暢銷的藥物之一，但2017年的一項(xiàng)研究表明，長(zhǎng)期使用這種藥物會(huì)使患胃癌的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)增加近250%。

The risks are associated with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori, carried by more than half of the world's population – most often harmlessly, but in a small percentage of people, the bug has been tied to the development of stomach cancer.

這種風(fēng)險(xiǎn)與一種幽門螺桿菌有關(guān)，世界上一半以上的人口都攜帶有這種細(xì)菌，它通常是無害的，但這種細(xì)菌與一小部分人患上胃癌有關(guān)。

Previous research found that people with an ongoing Helicobacter pylori infection taking a PPI stood a greater chance of developing a precursor to stomach cancer, called atrophic gastritis.

先前的研究表明，持續(xù)感染幽門螺桿菌的患者服用了質(zhì)子泵抑制劑更有可能發(fā)展成胃癌的前兆，也就是萎縮性胃炎。

While the mechanism for this was unclear, it's long been considered that eliminating the infection prior to taking PPIs – which have been linked to various adverse effects – might reduce the prospects of getting cancer.

雖然這種原理尚不明確，但長(zhǎng)期以來人們一直認(rèn)為，在服用與各種不良反應(yīng)有關(guān)的質(zhì)子泵抑制劑之前，消除感染可能會(huì)降低患癌癥的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

But the recent research shows that might not be the case.

但最近的研究表明，情況可能并非如此。

"Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are an important treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection and have good safety records for short-term use," said researcher Ian Wong from University College London.

倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院的研究人員伊恩·王表示，“質(zhì)子泵抑制劑是治療幽門螺桿菌感染的重要藥物，短期使用的安全記錄良好。”

"However, unnecessary long-term use should be avoided."

“但是，應(yīng)避免不必要的長(zhǎng)期使用情況。”

Greater frequency of PPI usage and longer-term treatment with the medication appeared to up the likelihood of developing cancer further.

質(zhì)子泵抑制劑的使用頻率過高，且使用這種藥物進(jìn)行長(zhǎng)期治療似乎會(huì)增加患癌癥的可能性。

Daily PPI use was associated with a 4.55 times greater risk of cancer than baseline, and became as high as an 8-fold greater risk if the drugs were taken for more than three years.

每天服用質(zhì)子泵抑制劑而罹患癌癥的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)是平時(shí)的4.55倍，而這種藥物如果使用超過3年，其風(fēng)險(xiǎn)將高達(dá)8倍。

The researchers acknowledged that this is only an observational study, so we can't assume from the data that PPIs are the cause here – but nonetheless, it's an alarming finding that shows there's more going on than scientists previously realised.

研究人員表示，這只是一項(xiàng)觀察性研究，因此我們不能從數(shù)據(jù)中推斷出質(zhì)子泵抑制劑是導(dǎo)致這一結(jié)果的原因，但盡管如此，這一令人擔(dān)憂的發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，引發(fā)癌癥的可能還有比科學(xué)家此前意識(shí)到的更多的因素。