was on protonix for nearly 2 years and am concerned about long term useage
7/ 5/10 8:51pm
As of yet Protonix has not been linked to causing stomach cancer. In fact, prolonged exposure to stomach acid can lead to Barrett's esophagus which is a precancerous condition in the esophagus so using a PPI is thought to decrease the chance of cancer.
There are some new concerns about prolonged usage of PPIs but this would only be if you continue to take them.
Stephanie
7/ 8/10 10:08pm
I've been reading more about gastritis and proton pump inhibitors and stomach cancer since I first posted. Unfortunately, there are no long term studies to show what effect (positive or negative) proton pump inhibitors have on stomach cancer. They are still relatively new to the market and it would need to be a long term study. The other problem is that it's difficult to tease out if someone gets stomach cancer if it's due to the acid, H Pylori infection or the treatment. Overall though there are studies right now that are looking at people who have been taking it 5-7 years and so far they have not found a correlation with stomach cancer.
Stephanie
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By judith j— Last Modified: 12/27/10, First Published: 07/04/10
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