IARC launches the Opioid Cohort Consortium (OPICO)

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) will welcome partners for the launch and first meeting of the Opioid Cohort Consortium (OPICO) on 6–8 November 2024. A total of 30 international scientists from 20 institutions worldwide will attend the meeting to collaborate on the critical topic of opioid use and its potential link to cancer risk.

The OPICO project, led by IARC scientist Dr Mahdi Sheikh, will leverage and harmonize data from nearly 2 million individuals from 25 sources in the USA, Europe, Asia, and Australia, creating a unique resource with high-quality data to assess whether using pharmaceutical opioids is associated with increased risks of specific cancer types.

The OPICO research team aims to deliver robust evidence to inform national prevention strategies and early detection policies, helping to mitigate the possible long-term health impacts of the ongoing global crisis of overuse of opioids.

This groundbreaking research builds on more than two decades of studies by IARC and collaborators that have shown the carcinogenicity of using opium, the minimally processed product derived from the unripe seedpod of the poppy plant. In 2020, an IARC Monographs Working Group classified use of minimally processed opium as carcinogenic to humans. At about the same time, concerns were raised about pharmaceutical opioids, which are either derived from opium or synthesized to mimic its chemical structure and effects. Consequently, the OPICO project was initiated to address this critical question.

The OPICO project is funded by the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the French National Cancer Institute (INCa).