Gabapentin and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer and Renal Cancer (GPRD)

High doses of gabapentin are associated with pancreatic acinar cell tumors in rats, but there has been no post marketing pancreatic carcinogenicity signal with gabapentin as reported by spontaneous reports in the Adverse Events Reporting System or in the published literature. In a published case-control screening study of the association of gabapentin with 55 cancers, the only cancer that met the screening criteria for possibly increased cancer risk with gabapentin exposure was renal (including renal pelvis) cancer. This association was judged to be likely due to or substantially accentuated by confounding by cigarette smoking, hypertension, and lifestyle (Cancer Causes Control 2009;20:1821-1835). The primary objective of this study is to determine whether exposure to gabapentin is associated with an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer or renal cancer in the United Kingdom (UK) General Practice Research Database (GPRD). Almost all members of the UK population are registered with a General Practice, which centralizes the medical information not only from the general practitioners themselves but also from specialist referrals and hospital attendances. Over 487 General Practices contribute data to the GPRD. The study cohort from which cases and controls are drawn is all subjects in the GPRD 1993-2008. Gabapentin was approved in the UK in May 1993. Entry into the study cohort begins Jan 1, 1993 for all those who are registered in GPRD before that time, and at the time of registration if later than Jan 1, 1993. Patients with a first diagnosis of the respective cancer 1995-2008 are risk set matched with up to 10 controls within the same General Practice for age at cohort entry (within two years), sex, and year of entry into the study cohort (within one year). For cases, the index date is the date of first diagnosis of the respective cancer. The index date for controls is set as the date at which the follow-up time from cohort entry is the same as the case. The index date is chosen so as to give the control equal follow-up time to that of the case for ascertainment of use of gabapentin. Cases and controls will be required to have at least 2 years of follow-up in the study cohort before their index date. Data on gabapentin prescriptions are obtained for cases and controls from study cohort entry to the index date. Crude and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) will be produced from conditional logistic regression models, with additional analyses evaluating for latency and dose-response. For pancreatic cancer, covariates are smoking, body mass index, diabetes, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and chronic pancreatitis. For renal cancer, covariates are smoking, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, diuretic use, epilepsy, and neuropathic pain.