Oral antibiotic use and young-onset colorectal cancer: findings from a nested case-control study using a national clinical database

Ronald D McDowell, Sarah Perrott, Peter Murchie, Christopher Cardwell, Carmel Hughes, Leslie Samuel* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)
12 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background
Antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis has been associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) in older adults. This study will investigate whether an association exists between antibiotic usage and early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC), and also evaluate this in later-onset CRC for comparison.
Methods
A case-control study was conducted using primary care data from 1999-2011. Analysis were conducted separately in early-onset CRC cases (diagnosed <50 years) and later-onset cases (diagnosed >=50 years). Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the associations between antibiotic exposure and CRC by tumour location, adjusting for comorbidities.
Results
7,903 CRC cases (445 aged <50 years) and 30,418 controls were identified. Antibiotic consumption was associated with colon cancer in both age-groups, particularly in the earlyonset CRC cohort (<50 years: adjusted Odds Ratio (ORadj) 1·49 (95%CI 1·07, 2·07), p=0·018; >= 50 years (ORadj (95%CI) 1·09 (1·01, 1·18), p=0·029). Antibiotics were not associated with rectal cancer (<50 years: ORadj (95%CI) 1·17 (0·75, 1·84), p=0·493; >=50 years: ORadj (95%CI) 1·07 (0·96, 1·19), p=0·238).
Conclusion
Our findings suggest antibiotics may have a role in colon tumour formation across all age groups.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)957-967
Number of pages11
JournalBritish Journal of Cancer
Volume126
Issue number6
Early online date17 Dec 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements: We wish to thank PCCIUR, University of Aberdeen, especially Artur Wozniak, for extracting the data and performing case-control matching.
Funding information: Cancer Research UK (reference C37316/A25535).

Keywords

  • cancer epidemiology
  • colon cancer

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Oral antibiotic use and young-onset colorectal cancer: findings from a nested case-control study using a national clinical database'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this