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Increased cancer risk observed after 5 years of celiac disease diagnosis
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Celiac disease patients do not have an increased risk for malignant cancers overall, but they do after 5 years from clinical diagnosis of celiac disease, according to new research data.
In an effort to calculate a realistic projection of cancer risk among patients with celiac disease (CD) using a large population-based cohort, researchers from Finland calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for malignancies based on data linked to the Finnish Cancer Registry from the Social Insurance Register. The final cohort included 32,439 adults (65.2% women) with CD identified from 2002-2011, and patients were grouped based on years of follow-up (<2, 2-2.49 or ≥5 years).
While risk for malignant diseases was not increased in the cohort overall (SIR=0.94; 95% CI, 0.89-0.98), it was increased overall after 5 or more years had passed from CD diagnosis (SIR=1.31; 95% CI, 1.04-1.63). Cancers with increased overall risk included small-intestinal cancer (SIR=4.29; 95% CI, 2.83-6.24), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL; SIR=1.94; 95% CI, 1.62-2.29), colon cancer (SIR=1.35; 95% CI, 1.13-1.58) and basal cell carcinoma (SIR=1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.22).
In contrast, there was a decreased risk for bladder cancer (SIR=0.53; 95% CI, 0.35-0.77), lung cancer (SIR=0.6; 95% CI, 0.48-0.74), breast cancer (SIR=0.7; 95% CI, 0.62-0.79), renal cancer (SIR=0.72; 95% CI, 0.51-0.99) and pancreatic cancer (SIR=0.73; 95% CI, 0.53-0.97).
“We conclude that the overall incidence of malignancy among clinically diagnosed celiac patients was not increased, although an increased SIR for malignancy was seen after 5 years from the diagnosis,” the researchers wrote. “The risks of NHL and small-intestinal cancer are in contrast increased, but to a lesser extent than previously described. This study confirms a good prognosis of clinically diagnosed celiac patients.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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