Arch Iran Med
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Multicenter Study
The Iranian Study of Opium and Cancer (IROPICAN): Rationale, Design, and Initial Findings.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently classified opium use as a Group 1 carcinogen. However, much remains to be studied on the relation between opium and cancer. We designed the Iranian Opium and Cancer (IROPICAN) study to further investigate the association of opium use and cancers of the head and neck, bladder, lung, and colon and rectum. In this paper, we describe the rationale, design, and some initial results of the IROPICAN Study. ⋯ The IROPICAN study will serve as a major resource in studies addressing the effect of opium on risk of cancers of the head and neck, bladder, lung, and colon and rectum.