Adverse effect · Calcitonin (salmon)

How common is cancer risk with Calcitonin (salmon)?

B
Grade B — probable, not settledRegulatory meta-analyses of RCTs · effect size: small · adverse
Short answerProbable, not settled. Human data exist (Regulatory meta-analyses of RCTs) and mostly agree, showing a small effect — but too few, too small, or not yet peer-reviewed for a firm answer. The EMA's 2012 review of randomised trials found a higher proportion of cancers in people on calcitonin than on placebo (about 2.4% excess for the nasal spray over long-term use). The signal is small and the mechanism unknown, but it was enough to end chronic use.

What the studies show

The EMA's 2012 review of randomised trials found a higher proportion of cancers in people on calcitonin than on placebo (about 2.4% excess for the nasal spray over long-term use). The signal is small and the mechanism unknown, but it was enough to end chronic use.

Human trials exist and mostly agree, but there are too few of them, they are too small, or one big one is still reading out. Expect the grade to move.

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In context

Calcitonin is a thyroid hormone that lowers blood calcium by slowing bone breakdown; the salmon version, more potent than human, was sold for decades as an osteoporosis nasal spray. Its one large fracture trial found a 33% reduction in spinal fractures at the middle dose and none at the higher one. In 2012–2013 European and other regulators withdrew the nasal spray after meta-analyses found a small excess of cancers, leaving short-term injectable use for Paget's disease and hypercalcaemia.

Calcitonin (salmon) is approved (rx, restricted). Legal status differs by country — see the regulation section or the jurisdiction pages.

Questions

Is Calcitonin (salmon) proven to cause cancer risk?
Not yet settled. Regulatory meta-analyses of RCTs — LYO grades it B, meaning probable but liable to change as trials read out.
What studies are behind the grade?
The EMA's 2012 review of randomised trials found a higher proportion of cancers in people on calcitonin than on placebo (about 2.4% excess for the nasal spray over long-term use). The signal is small and the mechanism unknown, but it was enough to end chronic use.
Is Calcitonin (salmon) approved for this?
Calcitonin (salmon) is an approved medicine (Approved (Rx, restricted)); whether this particular outcome is a licensed indication is stated on the compound page's regulation section.

Other outcomes for Calcitonin (salmon)

Written and maintained by LYO Research — how pages are written and checked. Reviewed 23 September 2026. Grades count human evidence only; see how LYO grades. Not medical advice. Correct this page →