WEDNESDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- Surveillance colonoscopy and use of anti-inflammatory medications may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer for patients with ulcerative colitis, according to a report in the June issue of Gastroenterology.
Edward V. Loftus, Jr., M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues conducted a retrospective case-control study of 188 patients with ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer and 188 matched ulcerative colitis patients without cancer to identify predictive and preventative variables associated with cancer risk.
The risk of colorectal cancer was higher in patients with a history of pseudopolyps (odds ratio, 2.5) and lower in those who had one or two surveillance colonoscopies (OR, 0.4), smoked (OR, 0.5), or took corticosteroids (OR, 0.4), aspirin (OR, 0.3) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (OR, 0.1).
"Although several questions remain to be answered," the authors conclude, "these results suggest that, in a population matched for extent and duration of chronic ulcerative colitis, surveillance colonoscopy and use of anti-inflammatory medications may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer."
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