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Anti-inflammatory drugs reduced colorectal cancer risk in women with inflammatory markers
Chan AT. Gastroenterology. 2011;140:799-808.
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Colorectal cancer risk was reduced by anti-inflammatory drugs in women with high levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-2, according to study results.
Researchers from institutions in Massachusetts investigated possible links between plasma inflammatory markers and colorectal cancer risk in 32,826 women. They also sought to determine whether the use of anti-inflammatory drugs — including aspirin and NSAIDs — was differentially associated with risk for colorectal cancer according to levels of inflammatory markers.
Blood samples were evaluated for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and the soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (sTNFR-2).
There were 280 cases of incident colorectal cancer documented through 2004. Each case was matched with two randomly selected controls who were similar in age to the patient.
Women were asked to report anti-inflammatory drug use for most weeks in the 2-year period before the study.
Multivariate analysis results indicated that women in the highest quartile of sTNFR-2 in plasma had an increased risk for colorectal cancer vs. women in the lowest quartile (RR=1.67; 95% CI, 1.05-2.68). Anti-inflammatory drug use after blood collection was associated with significant reductions in colorectal cancer risk among women with high baseline levels of sTNFR-2, according to multivariate analysis results (RR=0.39; 95% CI, 0.18-0.86).
Initiation of anti-inflammatory drugs did not significantly reduce colorectal cancer risk among women with low baseline sTNFR-2 levels (RR=0.86; 95% CI, 0.41-1.79).
No significant associations were observed between colorectal cancer risk and plasma levels of C-reactive protein or interleukin-6.
These results “support a role for chronic inflammation in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer and the potential of using inflammatory markers to define subsets of the population that may obtain differential benefit from anti-inflammatory drugs,” the researchers wrote.
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