Use of surveillance colonoscopy among individuals with removal of high-risk polyps according to the US Multi-Society Task Force recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with colorectal polypectomy are recommended to undergo surveillance colonoscopies at certain intervals to prevent subsequent colorectal cancer. Use of postpolypectomy surveillance according to the 2006 US Multi-Society Task Force (USMSTF) recommendations in an integrated health care system was investigated. METHODS: Use of surveillance colonoscopies was prospectively assessed among 3691 patients with removal of high-risk polyps at a screening colonoscopy during 2007-2012 in the Mass General Brigham Colonoscopy Cohort. With the follow-up up to 2017, the compliance with, overuse, and underuse of postpolypectomy surveillance according to the 2006 USMSTF recommendations was assessed. Surveillance use according to demographic factors was also investigated. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 4.4 years (5th percentile, 95th percentile, 1.0, 9.9) 2360 (64%) patients had undergone a surveillance colonoscopy, among whom 758 (21%) were considered compliant with the USMSTF recommendations. A substantial underuse of surveillance colonoscopies of 62% was observed. Older age and lower income were associated with a higher incidence of underuse, whereas having a family history of colorectal cancer were associated with lower incidence of underuse. Overuse of surveillance colonoscopies was present in 17% of patients but showed no significant associations with demographic factors. CONCLUSION: Substantial underuse of surveillance in patients with high-risk polyps was observed, particularly those with low income and older age. Efforts are needed to improve delivery and use of surveillance colonoscopy. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: The US Multi-Society Task Force recommends follow-up surveillance colonoscopy after polyp removal in the bowel, with intervals depending on the most severe findings. Adherence to surveillance recommendations in a large study with up to 10 years of follow-up among patients with high-risk polyps was investigated. Only 21% of patients adhered to the surveillance recommendations, whereas 62% showed delayed or no use of surveillance. Findings highlight the need for improved use of surveillance colonoscopy among patients at high risk of colorectal cancer.

Coffee consumption and cancer risk: a Mendelian randomisation study.

BACKGROUND: Coffee contains many bioactive chemicals and associations with cancer have been reported in observational studies. In this Mendelian randomisation (MR) study we investigated the causal associations of coffee consumption with a broad range of cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve independent genetic variants proxied coffee consumption. Genetically-predicted risk of any cancer (59,647 cases) and 22 site-specific cancers was estimated in European-descent individuals in UK Biobank. Univariable and multivariable MR analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Genetically-predicted coffee consumption was not associated with risk of any cancer in the main analysis (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.98-1.14, p = 0.183) but was associated with an increased risk of digestive system cancer (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.09-1.51, p = 0.003), driven by a strong association with oesophageal cancer (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.73-4.50, p = 2.5×10-5). This association was consistent after adjustment for genetically-predicted body mass index, smoking and alcohol consumption. There was no strong evidence supporting a causal relationship between genetically-predicted coffee consumption and the majority of cancers studied. However, genetically-predicted coffee consumption was associated with increased risk of multiple myeloma (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.30-3.89, p = 0.004) and reduced ovarian cancer risk (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.43-0.93, p = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: This MR study provides strong support for a causal association of coffee consumption with oesophageal cancer, but not for the majority of cancer types, and the underlying mechanisms require investigation.

Selenium and cancer risk: Wide-angled Mendelian randomization analysis.

Evidence on the association between selenium and cancer risk is inconclusive. We conducted a Mendelian randomization study to examine the associations of selenium levels with 22 site-specific cancers and any cancer. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) strongly associated with toenail and blood (TAB) and blood selenium levels in mild linkage disequilibrium (r2 < .3) were used as instrumental variables. Genetic associations of selenium-associated SNPs with cancer were obtained from the UK Biobank including a total of 59 647 cancer cases and 307 914 controls. Associations with P < .1 in UK Biobank were tested for replication in the FinnGen consortium comprising more than 180 000 individuals. The inverse-variance weighted method accounting for linkage disequilibrium was used to estimate the associations. Genetically predicted TAB selenium levels were not associated with the risk of the 22 site-specific cancers or any cancer (all 22 site-specific cancers). Similarly, we observed no strong association for genetically predicted blood selenium levels. However, genetically predicted blood selenium levels showed suggestive associations with risk of kidney cancer (odds ratio [OR] per one-unit increase in log-transformed levels: 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.67-1.03) and multiple myeloma (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.02-1.93). The same direction of association for kidney cancer but not for multiple myeloma was observed in FinnGen. In the metaanalysis of UK Biobank and FinnGen, the OR of kidney cancer was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.69-1.00). Our study suggests that high selenium status may not prevent cancer development. The associations for kidney cancer and multiple myeloma need to be verified in well-powered studies.

Development of a Large Colonoscopy-Based Longitudinal Cohort for Integrated Research of Colorectal Cancer: Partners Colonoscopy Cohort.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Conventional adenomas (CAs) and serrated polyps (SPs) are precursors to colorectal cancer (CRC). Understanding metachronous cancer risk is poor due to lack of accurate large-volume datasets. We outline the use of natural language processing (NLP) in forming the Partners Colonoscopy Cohort, an integrated longitudinal cohort of patients undergoing colonoscopies. METHODS: We identified endoscopy quality data from endoscopy reports for colonoscopies performed from 2007 to 2018 in a large integrated healthcare system, Mass General Brigham). Through modification of an established NLP pipeline, we extracted histopathological data (polyp location, histology and dysplasia) from corresponding pathology reports. Pathology and endoscopy data were merged by polyp location using a four-stage algorithm. NLP and merging procedures were validated by manual review of 500 pathology reports. RESULTS: 305,656 colonoscopies in 213,924 patients were identified. After merging, 76,137 patients had matched polyp data for 334,750 polyps. CAs and SPs were present in 86,707 (28.5%) and 55,373 (18.2%) colonoscopies. Among patients with polyps at index screening colonoscopy, 14,931 (33.4%) had follow-up colonoscopy (median 46.4, interquartile range 33.8-62.4 months); 91 (0.2%) and 1127 (2.5%) patients developed metachronous CRC and high-risk polyps (polyps ≥ 10 mm or CAs having high-grade dysplasia/villous/tublovillous histology or SPs with dysplasia). Genetic data were available for 23,787 (31.7%) patients with polyps from the Partners Biobank. The validation study showed a positive predictive value of 100% for polyp histology and locations. CONCLUSION: We created the Partners Colonoscopy Cohort providing essential infrastructure for future studies to better understand the natural history of CRC and improve screening and post-polypectomy strategies.

Comfrey herbal remedy causing second-degree heart block: do not be outfoxed by digitalis.

A previously well woman aged 63 years presents to the emergency department with vomiting, palpitations and 3 presyncopal episodes. She had no previous medical or cardiac history, with the patient stating that she tried a herbal remedy of boiled comfrey leaves for insomnia 18 hours before arrival to the department. Her ECG showed multiple abnormalities, including bradycardia, second-degree atrioventricular node block, Mobitz Type 2, a shortened QT interval, downsloping ST depression and presence of U waves. After viewing the images of comfrey and foxglove, it highlighted the possibility of mistaken ingestion of Digitalis, containing the organic forms of cardiac glycosides, such as digoxin and digitoxin. Raised serum digoxin levels confirmed this. The patient was haemodynamically stable, and given digoxin-binding antibodies. After 5 days of cardiac monitoring, her ECG returned to normal rhythm, and she was discharged home.