In a new study from Karolinska Institutet and Harvard University, researchers found a possible connection between colorectal polyps in close relatives and the risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest form of cancer in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
While lifestyle factors, such as overweight and sedentariness, increase the disease risk, there is also a known hereditary factor.
Most people diagnosed with the disease are over 65, but in a growing number of countries, the proportion of young people affected is increasing.
Local colorectal cancer can be treated with a good prognosis; prospects are much worse, however, for patients with metastases.
The disease is preceded by polyps in the mucosa of the colon.
In the study, the team examined the link between colorectal cancer and having a first-degree relative (i.e. parents and siblings) with a colorectal polyp.
They included 68,060 patients with colorectal cancer and 333,753 healthy controls.
They found that approximately 8.4% of the participants with colorectal cancer had a sibling or parent with colorectal polyps, as opposed to 5.7% of the control group.
The results show that heredity for colorectal polyps had a 40% increased risk of colorectal cancer. The researchers found what appear to be several hereditary risk links.
The risk was doubled in people with at least two first-degree relatives with polyps or a first-degree relative who had a colorectal polyp diagnosed before the age of 60
The team says if additional studies reveal a link between a family history of polyps and the risk of colorectal cancer, it is something to take into account in the screening recommendations, especially for younger adults.
They really hope that this study can help doctors in Sweden and elsewhere identify patients at a higher risk of colorectal cancer.
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The study is published in the British Medical Journal. One author of the study is Mingyang Song.
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