Chemoprevention of colorectal cancer in inflammatory bowel disease

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at an increased risk of colorectal cancer when compared to the general population. Chronic inflammation is thought to be the underlying cause, and medications that reduce inflammation have the potential to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

Areas covered: After conducting a PubMed search for relevant literature, we examined several classes of medications that have been studied as potential chemopreventive agents. These include 5-aminosalicylates, thiopurines, tumor necrosis factor antagonists, ursodeoxycholic acid, NSAIDs, and statins.

Expert commentary: While each class of medications has some data to support its use in chemoprevention, the majority of the evidence in each case argues against the routine use of these medications solely for a chemopreventive benefit.

KEYWORDS:

• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Crohn’s disease
• ulcerative colitis
• colorectal cancer
• chemoprevention
• 5-aminosalicylates
• thiopurines
• tumor necrosis factor antagonists
• ursodeoxycholic acid
• statins

Author contributions

AE, SP, AM, RR, and FF all wrote sections of this review. AE compiled and edited the document. AE and FF provided final edits. All authors approved of the final version.

Declaration of interest

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Additional information

Funding

This article was not funded.