Patients With Celiac Disease May Have Higher Cancer Risks
Patients diagnosed with celiac disease (CD) after the age of 40 appear to be at elevated risk of developing a variety of cancers, according to a recent population-based study of cancer in CD.
The heightened risk of cancer is usually detectable within the first 5 years after diagnosis, researchers revealed. The authors noted that most patients with CD included in previous studies of cancer risks were diagnosed before widespread increases in CD diagnosis rates and access to gluten-free food.
The researchers identified patients with CD using the Epidemiology Strengthened by histoPathology Reports in Sweden. Patients were categorized by sex, age, and county, and matched against similar controls, using stratified Cox proportional hazards model, following patients through clinic from diagnosis to first presentation of cancer, or until December 31, 2016. Of the 47,241 patients with CD observed in the study, 30,080 (64%) had been diagnosed with CD since 2000.
The study found that patients with celiac disease had a 1.11-fold increased risk of cancer. Most of the heightened risk was due to gastrointestinal and hematologic/lymphoproliferative cancer. The overall risk increase for cancer was only seen in the first year after celiac disease diagnosis.
“After a median follow-up of 11.5 years, the incidence of cancer was 6.5 and 5.7 per 1000 person-years in CD patients and controls, respectively,” the authors concluded. “The overall risk was highest in those diagnosed with CD after age 60 years and was not increased in those diagnosed before age 40. The cancer risk was similar among those diagnosed with CD before or after the year 2000.”
—Angelique Platas
Reference
Lebwohl B, Green PHR, Emilsson L, et al. Cancer risk in 47,241 individuals with celiac disease: a nationwide cohort study. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. Published online May 21, 2021.
