New Research suggests that the increased cancer risk of patients with diverticular disease is not limited to the gastrointestinal tract. A study published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that these patients also have a 50% increased risk of lung cancer.
The study included 75,704 patients diagnosed with diverticular disease and colorectal histopathology and 313,480 comparable control patients from the general population.
During a median follow-up of 6 years, 12,846 cancers occurred in patients with diverticular disease and 43,354 cancers in control patients.
The data showed that patients with diverticular disease have a significantly increased incidence of cancer overall (24.5 vs.18.1 per 1000 person-years), which corresponds to an additional case of cancer per 16 people with diverticular disease over a period of 10 years.
After adjusting for covariates, the diagnosis of diverticular disease increased the risk of cancer by about 33%.
In addition to the expected increased risk of colon cancer (71%), the study found a 72% increased risk of liver cancer and a 62% increased risk of pancreatic cancer. These patients also had an increased risk of cancers other than gastrointestinal malignancies, with the data showing a 50% increase in lung cancer risk.
The increase in colorectal cancer risk was mainly limited to the first year of follow-up and especially to early stages of cancer, but in the long term there was a sustained increase in overall cancer risk. This was mainly due to liver and lung cancer.
A significantly higher incidence of cancer was observed in patients with normal colorectal histopathology and in those with inflammation/diverticula or normal histology.
The publication of the study comes at the right time, as a new report shows a worrying increase in the prevalence of diseases of the digestive system in Europe.
The pan-European study on the burden of Diseases of the digestive system commissioned by the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) showed that the total number of new cases, deaths and prevalent cases is increasing. The number of prevalent cases has increased by more than a fifth since 2000 and it is currently estimated that over 300 million people in LEL member countries suffer from diseases of the digestive system.
Age-standardized incidence or prevalence rates have increased for various diseases of the digestive system, including chronic liver disease, pancreatitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastritis and duodenitis, paralytic ileus and intestinal obstruction, appendicitis, and vascular intestinal diseases.
Age-standardised incidence and mortality rates for liver and pancreatic cancer have increased in most European countries since 2000, with alcohol consumption, obesity and other modifiable lifestyle factors identified as key factors for most of the overall burden of these digestive diseases.
The number of cases and deaths has increased since 2000 for all cancers of the digestive tract except stomach cancer.
The LEL reports call for more prevention measures targeting modifiable risk factors such as obesity and smoking.
«The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the glaring health inequalities between countries and is likely to pose a long-term challenge to population health.Changes in alcohol consumption during the pandemic and emerging economic challenges such as rising inflation are likely to exacerbate existing health inequalities, with implications for digestive health,» the report said.
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Source — https://www.univadis.de/viewarticle/divertikelkrankheit-lungenkrebsrisiko-um-50-erhoht