Diseases preceding colon cancer

Abstract

Patients with regular use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) appear to have a reduced mortality from colon cancer. As NSAID use is associated with gastrointestinal bleeding, endoscopic exploration of patients on NSAID may lead to more efficient screening and frequent detection of colon cancer. A case-control study was conducted among 12,304 veterans with a colon cancer diagnosed between 1988 and 1992. Four controls were matched by age, sex, and race to each case. The frequency distributions of previous discharge diagnoses in cases and controls were compared. Arterial embolism and thrombosis, spondylosis, peripheral vascular disease, angina, osteoarthrosis, and ischemic heart disease protected against future development of colon cancer. On the other hand, atrial fibrillation and flutter, as well as phlebitis and thrombophlebitis, were associated an increased occurrence of colon cancer after 5-10 years. The study contrasts diseases that are treated with aspirin with those that are treated with other anticoagulants. Both cause bleeding, but the reduced risk of colon cancer was seen only in conditions treated with aspirin. The difference between the two disease groups from the same VA patient population suggests that chronic use of NSAID truly protects against future development of colon cancer.

Relation Between Cancer and Atrial Fibrillation (from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke Study)

“…4-8 A case-control study consisting of 12,304 veterans in the United States showed that AF preceded a diagnosis of colon cancer. 4 Similar results were observed in a small case-control study of 1,463 patients admitted for surgical treatment of colon cancer in Italy, with colon cancer patients having twice the prevalence of AF compared with controls.…”

“…4-8 A case-control study consisting of 12,304 veterans in the United States showed that AF preceded a diagnosis of colon cancer. 4 Similar results were observed in a small case-control study of 1,463 patients admitted for surgical treatment of colon cancer in Italy, with colon cancer patients having twice the prevalence of AF compared with controls. 5 Additionally, a population-based case-control study from northern Denmark consisting of 28,833 AF cases and 283,260 sex-, age-, and county-matched population controls showed that persons with AF were more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer within 90 days before their AF diagnosis (OR=11.8, 95%CI=9.3, 14.9).…”

“…1-3 Several studies have suggested that the association between cancer and AF is not limited to the postoperative period. 4-8 Case-control studies have reported associations of colorectal and breast cancers with AF, 4-6 and registry data from Denmark have reported similar associations with cancers of the colon, lung, kidney, and ovary. 7,8 Notably, these reports from non-surgical populations focused on persons with recent cancer diagnoses or those who were admitted to the hospital for cancer treatment.…”

“…7,8 Notably, these reports from non-surgical populations focused on persons with recent cancer diagnoses or those who were admitted to the hospital for cancer treatment. 4-8 However, data from persons with a history of non-life threatening cancer and those who do not require active cancer treatment are lacking. An association between AF and cancer from this population would support that cancer represents a comorbid state predisposing to AF.…”

Association of Atrial Fibrillation and Cancer

“…A case-control study among veterans published in 1994 appears to be the first report that antecedent AF was more common (odds ratio, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.16–1.55) among individuals with cancer (colon). 19 In 2014, investigators published a registry study of all Danish patients, and observed that those with AF had a 2.5% (95% CI, 2.4%–2.5%) absolute risk of a cancer diagnosis in the first 3 months after diagnosis of AF, which represented a 5 fold increased risk. They observed that the standardized incidence ratio of cancer was elevated at 1.11 even 24 months after AF diagnosis.…”