Sign up now for ease of access to The Medical Independent, Ireland’s most frequently published medical newspaper, delivering award-winning news and investigative reporting.
Established in 2010, along with its sister publication The Medical Independent, our stated aim is to investigate and analyse the major issues affecting healthcare and the medical profession in Ireland. The Medical Independent has won a number of awards for its investigative journalism, and its stories are frequently picked up by national digital, broadcast and print media. The Medical Independent is published by GreenCross Publishing.
Address: Top Floor, 111 Rathmines Road Lr, Dublin 6
Tel: 353 (01) 441 0024
GreenCross Publishing is owned by Graham Cooke.
Antibiotic usage may be contributing to the increase in early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) cases observed in recent years, suggests a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2021. Study author Sarah Perrott, a medical student at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, noted that rates of early-onset CRC (in adults under 50 years of age) have been increasing since the late 1980s, while, at the same time, antibiotic use has also been on the rise. Furthermore, antibiotics have been shown to alter the gut microbiome and influence CRC genesis in older adults.
Ms Perrott and colleagues conducted a nested case control study to determine if there is a link between antibiotic use and early-onset CRC. The researchers also evaluated antibiotic use in patients with later-onset CRC (at age 50 and older) for comparison. Using Scottish primary care data, patients diagnosed with CRC between 1999 and 2011 were matched with up to five control patients. There were 7,903 CRC patients and 30,418 control patients included in the analysis.
Of the CRC patients, 5281 had colon cancer and 2,622 had rectal cancer. The researchers found that antibiotic use was associated with an increased risk of early-onset colon cancer (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.49; 95% CI, 1.07-2.07; P=.018) and later-onset colon cancer (aOR 1.09; 95% CI, 1.01-1.18; P=.029). Quinolones and sulfonamides/trimethoprim were the classes of antibiotics linked to the increases. However, antibiotic use was not associated with an increased risk of early-onset rectal cancer (aOR 1.17; 95% CI, 0.75-1.84; P=.493) or later-onset rectal cancer (aOR 1.07; 95% CI, 0.96-1.19; P=.238).
Antibiotic use was associated with an increased risk of proximal colon cancer in younger patients (aOR 3.78; 95% CI, 1.60- 8.92; P=.002), but not in older patients (aOR 0.92; 95% CI, 0.74-1.13; P=.315). Ms Perrott noted, however, that the sample size in this subgroup was small, so further investigation is needed. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to link antibiotic use with the growing risk of early-onset colon cancer – a disease which has been increasing at a rate of at least 3 per cent per year over the last two decades,” Ms Perrott said.
References on request
Welcome to the latest edition Update, which focuses on the latest developments in oncology & haematology.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer globally, with over 2.3 million occurrences every...
The ICGP is examining alternative pathways for entry into general practice training as part of efforts...
In December, the HSE released part of an external review into the case of 'Brandon', a...
The evidence on doctor burnout “should scare us and concern us”, the Director of the RCSI...
A review of public health governance structures and addressing “longstanding” IT infrastructure...
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.