Inflammatory bowel disease tied to pancreatic cancer risk

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) appear to have a moderately elevated risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a meta-analysis.

Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies in which the association between IBD and pancreatic cancer was explored. Online databases such as Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and ProQuest were searched for relevant population-based cohort and Mendelian randomisation (MR) studies.

The initial search yielded 5,201 publications, of which 13 met the eligibility criteria. Eleven studies examined the relationship between pancreatic cancer development and IBD, whereas the remaining two studies evaluated the cause-and-effect relationship of IBD with pancreatic cancer occurrence. Three studies had a high quality, five had a moderate quality, and three had a low quality.

Pooled data from the 11 cohort studies, which involved 403,589 patients with IBD and 902 incident cases of pancreatic cancer, showed that IBD was associated with a 79-percent increase in the risk of incident pancreatic cancer (relative risk [RR], 1.79, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.16–2.75; I²=95.7 percent). This association was seen for both IBD subtypes: Crohn's disease (RR, 1.42, 95 percent CI, 1.24–1.63) and ulcerative colitis (RR, 1.50, 95 percent CI, 1.17–1.92; p=0.72 for interaction).

The annual incidence of pancreatic cancer potentially attributable to IBD rose by 55 cases (95 percent CI, 17–103) per million.

Pooled data from two MR studies indicated that genetic predisposition to IBD was likewise associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.