This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Acromegaly may increase colon polyp risk
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Adults with acromegaly have an elevated risk for colon polyps, and those who have a higher level of insulin-like growth factor I at diagnosis appear to have an even greater risk compared with those who have a lower level, despite delayed diagnosis of acromegaly or presence of comorbidities, according to study results from Mexico.
Moisés Mercado, MD, FRCPC, of the ABC Hospital Neurological and Cancer Centers in Mexico City, and colleagues evaluated 165 adults (mean age, 47.5 years) with acromegaly who underwent colonoscopy within 12 months of their diagnosis to determine the prevalence of colonic polyps and compared clinical and biochemical features of patients with and without polyps.
Overall, 53 participants had one or more polyps, and the remaining participants were categorized as controls. In general, the RR for developing colonic polyps was 6.21 (95% CI, 4.04-9.48), 4.85 (95% CI, 2.81-8.18) for nonadenomatous polyps and 4.86 (95% CI, 2.5-9.92) for adenomatous polyps. Participants with colonic polyps had higher IGF-I at diagnosis compared with controls (P = .001).
No difference was found for acromegaly diagnosis delay or the prevalence of comorbidities among participants with the two different polyp types.
The descending colon and rectum-sigmoid were the most frequent anatomic locations of the polyps.
“Our study confirms that patients with acromegaly have an increased risk of developing colonic polyps, particularly distally located hyperplastic polyps,” the researchers wrote. “A higher IGF-I level at diagnosis is significantly associated with the presence of colonic polyps upon both bivariate and multivariate analysis, although no other distinctive features could be found among patients who develop these lesions compared to those who do not. Our findings should be considered with caution in view of the inherent limitations of the study, namely, its retrospective nature and the relatively low number of evaluated subjects. Undoubtedly, future larger-scale, prospective studies are needed in order to determine the magnitude of the risk a patient with acromegaly has of developing colonic neoplasms and to establish which clinical or biochemical features are associated with such risk.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts