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Poppers linked to increased risk of some cancers in older men who have sex with men without HIV
Keith Alcorn, 2017-04-04 10:20:00
Daily or weekly use of poppers over a number of years is associated with a substantial increase in the risk of cancers caused by viruses in men who have sex with men without HIV, but only in the 50-70 age group, a study published in the journal AIDS shows. Heavy use of poppers use was not associated with an increased risk of these cancers in men with HIV.
Researchers don’t rule out the possibility that use of poppers makes it easier to acquire the viruses that lead to some cancers, rather than encouraging these cancers to develop by suppressing the immune system. However, they note that their analysis shows no increase in cancer risk among men with a larger number of sexual partners or men with a higher frequency of sexually transmitted infections, both of which might lead to greater exposure to viral infections such as HPV.
Poppers, or nitrite inhalants, are used frequently by men who have sex with men during sex as a stimulant and to make anal intercourse easier. Animal models have shown poppers to cause transient immunosuppression, but numerous epidemiological studies have disproved claims that poppers were linked to immunosuppression in gay men with HIV or to the development of Kaposi’s sarcoma, the most common AIDS-defining cancer.
Nevertheless, concerns persist about possible cancer risks associated with frequent use of poppers, either because of immunosuppression or because they facilitate behaviours that increase the risk of acquiring cancer-causing viruses such as HPV.
The findings come from a large cohort study of men who have sex with men in the United States.
The cohort consisted of 3223 men (1563 with HIV and 1660 without) who were enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) in the United States and who had at least one study visit between 1996 and 2010. Men were encouraged to attend study visits approximately once a year after enrolment. Participants had a median age of 43 at their first study visit and were followed for a median of 11 years after enrolment. Seventy-two percent were Caucasian, 18.8% African-American and 8.5% of other ethnicity.
MACS collects a broad range of health and behavioural data including information on recreational drug use, and on immunological markers in men without HIV infection. This analysis investigated the relationship between the use of nitrite inhalants (poppers) and cancer.
The investigators classified participants as heavy, light or non-users of poppers. Heavy use was classified as daily or weekly use reported for at least one year of study enrolment. Light use was classified as monthly use or less infrequent use. Heavy use was compared to a control group combining light users and non-users.
Twenty percent of men without HIV and 33% of men with HIV were classified as heavy users of poppers. The study found no significant differences in immunological markers (CD4 count or CD4:CD8 cell ratio) between heavy users of poppers and the control group, in either men with HIV or men without HIV.
Three hundred and twenty-seven cancers were diagnosed in 296 participants. The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, prostate cancer and other cancers was higher in heavy users of poppers, but after adjustment for age, race, calendar year and HIV status, this difference ceased to be significant.
Next, the researchers looked at the risk of virus-associated cancers in men with and without HIV. Virus-associated cancers include non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma (caused by EBV), Kaposi’s sarcoma (HHV-8) and anal and oropharyngeal cancer (HPV). Virus-associated cancers are more common in men who have sex with men living with HIV than in the rest of the population, tend to have a worse prognosis in people with HIV and remain an important cause of death in people with HIV.
In this study cancers caused by hepatitis C or hepatitis C – most commonly liver cancer – were not included in the category of virus-associated cancers owing to the low prevalence of both viruses in the cohort.
Heavy use of poppers was not associated with an increased risk of any virus-associated cancer in men living with HIV after adjusting for age, race, CD4 cell count, viral load and period of antiretroviral treatment.
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