Helicobacter pylori exposure linked to one in five cases of bowel cancer

Those born in more recent decades may be more at risk of the disease after exposure, the analysis suggests, and high quality long term studies are needed to determine if eradication therapy with antibiotics significantly lowers bowel cancer risk, conclude the researchers.

Bowel cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related death: in 2022, there were nearly 2 million new cases and 900,000 deaths from the disease worldwide, note the researchers.

They therefore drew on data from systematic reviews and pooled data analyses, stratified by various factors, including region, diagnostic method, sex, access to a national bowel cancer screening programme, and the use of eradication therapy.

They derived international estimates of bowel cancer cases from the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) for 2022.

No statistically significant differences were observed when categorised by sex, age (above and below 60), diagnostic method, or the presence of a national bowel cancer screening programme.

The estimated proportion attributable to exposure was much lower, however, when restricted to 14 population-based and cohort studies (12%).

Exploratory data pattern analysis suggested that the proportion of bowel cancers linked to exposure was greater among those born in more recent decades (1960s and 1970s), rising from 9.5% in those born before 1947 to around 10% among those born in 1948–62, and 15% among those born in 1963–77.

The researchers point out that there are many potentially influential risk factors in the development of bowel cancer, which include non-modifiable ones, such as genetics and age, as well as modifiable ones, such as those related to lifestyle and diet.

Source:

BMJ Group

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