Impaired Gastric Cancer Survival in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background & Aims: Both chronic inflammation and reduced immunosurveillance contribute to malignancy development in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Previous literature suggests that especially Crohn’s disease patients are at an increased risk for developing gastric cancer (GC). This study aimed to identify risk factors for GC development in IBD and to compare the clinical characteristics of GC in IBD to those in the general population. Methods: We retrospectively searched the Dutch Pathology Database to identify all Dutch IBD patients with GC between January 2004 and December 2008. Two case-control studies were performed. I: to identify risk factors for GC in IBD, with controls from the IBD South Limburg (IBDSL) population-based cohort; and II: to compare GC disease course in IBD patients with the general population. General population data were obtained from the Eindhoven Cancer Registry (ECR). Results: We included 59 patients with IBD and GC (cases). Cases were significantly older at IBD diagnosis than IBDSL controls (median age 61 years versus 40; p