Abstract
Background
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are at increased risk of developing gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. The aim of this study is to assess the risk of malignancies in IBD patients and the impact of cancer screening according to the ECCO guidelines in a tertiary referral centre.
Methods
We retrospectively analysed the electronic database of all IBD patients followed by the IBD Centre of Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan, from January 2010 to October 2019, and collected all new diagnoses of solid and haematological tumours since 2010. The annual standardised incidence rate (SIR), rate of mortality and early cancer diagnosis were calculated and a descriptive analysis of drug exposure, disease duration, family history of any cancer, smoking habits was made.
Results
We included 5239 patients, with a total 19820 patient-years follow-up. Eighty-four malignancies in 81 patients were retrieved, 71 were included in the final analysis (38 CD, 32 UC, 31 females). Average age at tumour diagnosis was 52.9 years (range 19–78). 64% of patients were former or active smokers, 31% had a family history of cancer or IBD. Sixty-two per cent of patients were previously exposed or had 5-ASA at the time of cancer, 40% azathioprine, 43% anti-TNF or vedolizumab. The annual SIR for all kinds of malignancy was 0.358%. GI malignancies were the most frequent (n = 17, 23.9%, 47% UC, 53% in CD). Six over 8 GI tract malignancies in UC patients were found in the colon or rectum (mean disease duration 22.5 years), whereas in CD patients 5/9 were in the small-bowel (mean disease duration 7.0 years). Melanoma and breast cancer (n = 8 each) were the most common non-GI cancers, followed by prostate (n = 7) and bladder (n = 6). No significant difference in incidence was found between CD or UC. Non-Hodgkin lymphomas and leukaemia (3 and 1, respectively) only occurred in CD patients. Other tumours included thyroid (n = 5), lungs (n = 4), testicle (n = 3), ovary (n = 2), kidney (n = 2), head-nose-throat (n = 2), pancreas (n = 1), brain (n = 1), and non-melanoma skin cancer (n = 1). Death occurred in 11% of patients, 8 of them for late stage cancer. Only 2 were related to the concomitant IBD (1 colo-rectal and 1 anal cancer). In patients regularly screened according to the ECCO Guidelines (GI cancer, haematological and skin cancer), there was a significantly higher number of detection of early cancer (28 vs. 1, p = 0.003), although no differences in mortality rates were reported in the two groups (2 vs. 2, p = 0.10).
Conclusion
The overall incidence of cancer in our cohort was not different from the current literature available. Adherence to the ECCO Guidelines for cancer surveillance improves the detection of early cancer in IBD patients.
Risk perception and cancer worry: an exploratory study of the impact of genetic risk counselling in women with a family history of breast cancer
