friend sent this to me; I think the journal reference is cut off

March 19, 2003

Screening for Digestive Tract Cancers May Be Warranted in CF Patients

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Mar 11 - Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are

at increased risk for digestive tract cancers, and the risk is more

pronounced in those who have undergone organ transplantation.

Dr. Albert B. Lowenfels of New York Medical College in Valhalla and

colleagues report these findings in the March 5th issue of the Journal of

the National Cancer Institute. His team used data from the Cystic Fibrosis

Foundation registry to assess the risk for cancer among 28,858 patients

with CF.

Among 26,704 nontransplanted CF patients, 75 cancers were recorded during

10 years of follow up compared with 69.7 expected cases (standardized

incidence ratio [sIR] = 1.1). Of note, there was a " statistically

significantly " increased number of cancers arising in the digestive tract

in nontransplanted patients, 23 observed versus 4.5 expected (SIR = 5.1).

Among 1063 transplanted patients, 13 cancers were recorded during follow

up compared with only 2.05 expected cancers (SIR = 6.3). As with

nontransplanted patients, there was an increased number of digestive tract

cancers, 4 observed versus 0.19 expected (SIR = 21.2). There were also

more lymphomas in transplanted patients than expected, 7 versus 0.16 (SIR

= 44.0).

Additionally, the team found that failure to thrive or malnutrition at the

time of CF diagnosis was associated with a higher risk of digestive tract

cancer.

" As survival of the CF population continues to improve, these findings

could help identify subgroups of patients who are more likely to develop

digestive tract cancer and for whom screening for digestive tract cancer

would be beneficial, " Dr. Lowenfels and colleagues conclude.

They emphasize, however, that cancer remains a " rare event " in the CF

population. The increase in digestive tract cancers in this study, they

say, is " based on a relatively small number of cases and is in part

counterbalanced by the deficit of non-digestive tract cancers. As a

result, the overall cancer risk in the CF population is similar to that in

the general population. "

J Natl Cancer Inst 2003;95:381

Recommended Posts