# Antacids, GERD and Cancer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243 "2017-04-11T16:43:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/1 "2017-04-11T16:43:44Z")
My paternal grandmother died in 1973, when I was still barely a baby. And I have to say, I was in many ways too young to even know what was going on at the time. She died of esophageal cancer. But this was before the time of chemotherapy, and it was inoperative, so there really wasn’t much they could do for her. Anyways, it was also long before the era of acid blockers, which ironically too might have saved her. As I said, I was very young (oh, what the heck, I might as well tell you–I had just turned 5). But I do remember she often complained of “heartburn” back then. And she took a lot of antacids, I also recall. My question is simply this: **Why don’t antacids prevent esophageal cancer like acid blockers do?** As I said, she was taking a lot of antacids. Why weren’t they enough? :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/2 "2017-04-11T18:15:09Z")
Where are you getting the information that PPIs protect against cancer? From the brief search I’ve done, PPIs seem to be somewhat associated with an INCREASED risk of cancer. > **[Risk of Gastric Cancer, Gastrointestinal Cancers and Other Cancers](https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/856420)** > > Are patients taking proton pump inhibitors at an increased risk for developing gastrointestinal cancers? > **[Long Term Proton Pump Inhibitor Use and Gastrointestinal Cancer](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2838432/)** > > Proton pump inhibitors profoundly affect the stomach and have been associated with carcinoid tumors in female rats. There is now sufficient experience with this class of drugs to allow reasonable estimation of their safety in terms of cancer... > **[Could Proton Pump Inhibitors Cause Cancer?](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/486932)** > > In addition to increased risk of osteoporotic fractures, Clostridium difficile, and other infections,1 proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may have also contributed to the sharp rise in gastroesophageal malignant diseases seen over the past 2 decades. This... ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/3 "2017-04-11T18:18:21Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Where are you getting the information that PPIs protect against cancer? From the brief search I’ve done, PPIs seem to be somewhat associated with an INCREASED risk of cancer. > > [http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/856420](http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/856420) > > [Long Term Proton Pump Inhibitor Use and Gastrointestinal Cancer - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2838432/) > > [Could Proton Pump Inhibitors Cause Cancer? | Gastroenterology | JAMA Internal Medicine | JAMA Network](http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/486932) I am taking an acid reducer. And my understanding was that it was to prevent cancer. At least, that is what I thought. Maybe I should talk to my doctor again. I had no idea it led to an _increase_ risk of cancer. The big thing my doctor said, was that it led to a deficiency in calcium. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/4 "2017-04-11T19:37:44Z")
I, too, am interested in a definitive (as science allows) answer as to whether acid blockers contribute to an increased risk or the opposite. I have regular reflux and chomp two antacids almost nightly, but I don’t want to go on acid blockers because I think if I can get my weight under control, the problem will abate, so that’s what I’m shooting for. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/5 "2017-04-11T23:26:43Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Where are you getting the information that PPIs protect against cancer? From the brief search I’ve done, PPIs seem to be somewhat associated with an INCREASED risk of cancer. Is that because they cause an increased risk of cancer, or because the population most likely to use PPI’s is also the population \*already \*at increased risk of cancer? It may be that in people at high risk due to GERD that PPI’s reduce their overall risk, but their risk will still remain higher than that of people who don’t have GERD at all. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/6 "2017-04-11T23:42:57Z")
My Dad chomped antacids to manage his heartburn. Shame he didn’t check with the doc about it. The cause of the heartburn was the cancer eating his liver which messed up his digestive enzymes leading to poor operation of his stomach. By the time he started having other symptoms and had the docs check, he was doomed in short order. Don’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/7 "2017-04-12T21:28:50Z")
**IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT:** I just saw my urologist today, and asked him about it. And he told me, without a doubt, that acid blockers _ **DO** _ prevent esophageal cancer. That is why you take them. And he’s an MD. And very smart too, I might add. Boy, sometimes the replies you get on these boards are so negative. Nothing wrong with that:). Debates and science and all that. But it does doom a discussion, before it even gets started:). Yeah, and it is sadly too late for my poor Grandma. As I said, acid blockers would have saved her too. Be thankful we all live is such an modern age of marvels. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/8 "2017-04-12T21:40:28Z")
So they decrease the risk of esophageal cancer but increase the risk of gastrointestinal cancer? I guess that could be an acceptable trade off for some patients. ---
**Author:** ![Doubticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@Doubticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubticus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/9 "2017-04-13T16:34:59Z")
I take acid blockers for the same reason. My doctor explained that the excess acid splashes up into the esophagus and that acid damage can eventually lead to a cancerous situation. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/10 "2017-04-14T06:57:50Z")
Another data point, I have a hiatus hernia and have to take Omeprazole every day. My gastro specialist also told me that the continuous acid burning could be a cancer risk. Anyway for me there is no choice, if I don’t take them the burning is unbearable so if I have a slightly higher risk of cancer to not be in continuous pain (and agony when I swallow) then thats fine with me. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antacids-gerd-and-cancer/784243/11 "2017-04-20T13:08:21Z")
Be looking for a thread IMHO entitled: “How my acid reflux finally went away after 25 years.” Been wanting to share for the last few months, but time is so limited these days. Hoping this will help quite a few of you too!