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No conclusive evidence of link between bone morphogenetic protein use, cancer
According to the results of a recently published study, surgeons should assess an individual’s risk of developing cancer from the use of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein during spinal fusion surgery.
Researchers analyzed clinical data available from the Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) project and other recently published large database studies, to determine the association of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) use in spinal fusion and the risk of postoperative cancer. Only studies with a follow up of 1 year were included in the analysis.
In the YODA data, the researchers identified one meta-analysis that found statistically significant risk of cancer related to BMP use during spinal fusion surgery at 24-month follow up, but not at 48-month follow up. A second meta-analysis in the YODA project found no increased risk at all.
Analysis of Medicare, MarketScan, and PearlDiver, three large health care data sets, found no statistically significant risk of cancer with BMP use, researchers noted.
Researchers concluded there is no conclusive evidence showing a link between BMP use during spinal fusion surgery and cancer, but surgeons still need to assess an individual’s risk of cancer before using BMP during surgery. – by Robert Linnehan
Disclosure: Cahill reports that he is a consultant for Globus Medical, DePuy Synthes, and Ethicon. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.