Patients in Hong Kong who were newly diagnosed with coronary artery disease had nearly twice the prevalence of colorectal tumors and cancers, with this association stronger in persons who had smoked or have the metabolic syndrome, according to a study in the Sept. 26 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Colorectal cancer is the second most prevalent cancer worldwide, with an estimated 1 in 20 healthy individuals eventually developing the disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and other industrialized countries, according to background information in the article. Colorectal neoplasm (“precancerous” tumors or cancer) and coronary artery disease (CAD) share similar risk factors, and their co-occurrence may be associated.
Annie On On Chan, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Hong Kong, China, and colleagues investigated the prevalence of colorectal cancer and colorectal neoplasms in patients with newly diagnosed CAD. Participants in the study were from Hong Kong and were recruited for screening colonoscopy after undergoing coronary angiography for suspected CAD from November 2004 to June 2006. Presence of CAD (n = 206) was defined as at least 50 percent diameter narrowing in any one of the major coronary arteries; otherwise, patients were considered CAD-negative (n = 208). An age- and sex-matched control group was recruited from the general population (n = 207).