Study: Colorectal Cancer Patients at Increased Risk of Certain Other Cancers

Patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer are at increased risk of developing cancer elsewhere in their bodies, according to British researchers.

The researchers, reporting in the journal Gut, said their study of a British cancer registry found that among patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer, the number of subsequent cancers of the small intestine, uterus, ovaries and eyes was higher than expected.

"Small intestinal cancer was significantly increased in men diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the age of 60 years and in women diagnosed with colorectal cancer after the age of 65 years," the researchers said.

At the same time, the researchers also found that patients initially diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine had a higher risk of subsequently being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

The researchers said the linkage of colorectal cancer to a higher risk of other cancers might be may be explained by the fact that they had an inherited form of the disease called hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC).

"Patients with colorectal cancer are at increased risk of developing cancer at a number of other sites," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: Gut