Update on artificial sweeteners and bladder cancer.

Review of the most recent epidemiologic studies indicates there is no detectable association between artificial sweetener consumption and bladder cancer. The summary relative risk from a meta-analysis of all case-control studies approaches unity (RR .97). This analysis, in combination with new evidence for a unique mechanism of saccharin carcinogenicity in the male rat, leads to the conclusion that saccharin is not related to bladder cancer in humans.