Prevention of colorectal cancer in inflammatory bowel disease

Colorectal cancer is a serious complication of inflammatory bowel disease. The persistent inflammatory triggers are thought to lead to genetic alterations and malignant degeneration, but the precise pathogenesis of the problem – which appears to be different from the “classic” adenoma-carcinoma sequence – has not yet been unravelled. Nevertheless, both extent and severity of the inflammation are thought to contribute to triggering malignant degeneration.

Given this fact, it is necessary to examine the opportunities for current and future approaches to colorectal cancer prevention. The authors evaluated the value of surveillance colonoscopy and chemoprevention of colorectal cancer with 5'-aminosalicylic acid, and review the current state of knowledge in the epidemiology of and new approaches to the prevention of cancer and dysplasia in inflammatory bowel disease.

The authors conclude that there is significant preclinical and clinical evidence to suggest that 5-aminosalicylate drugs reduce the risk of colorectal neoplasia. However, the minimal dosage to achieve this chemopreventive effect remains unclear. There is also indirect evidence to suggest that surveillance colonoscopy is beneficial for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, particularly in those with long-standing pancolitis or primary sclerosing cholangitis-associated inflammatory bowel disease. However, definitive proof from prospective clinical trials is not yet available, and more research needs to be performed.

Media Contact

Carla Holmes alfa

More Information:

http://www.karger.com

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors