Antibiotic use can increase your chances of getting colorectal cancer

For many of us, when we go to see the doctor for colds and viruses, we expect a prescription for antibiotics.

But your doctor could be doing you a huge favour by not scribbling an antibiotic on the prescription pad.

Findings of a new study, which were shared at the European Society for Medical Oncology World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2021, indicate that people, especially those under the age of 50 years, may be at an increased risk of colon cancer due to the use of antibiotics.

This new information reinforces the importance of careful prescription of antibiotics. It also supports calls for increased cancer screening among younger people.

Risk of Overuse

Antibiotics— first used in the 1940s— are certainly one of the great advances in medicine. But overprescribing them has resulted in the development of resistant bacteria that don’t respond to antibiotics that may have worked in the past.

Many studies have shown that while doctors use them to treat bacterial infections, they are not effective against infections caused by viruses.

Moreover, antibiotics are not always necessary, because sometimes, the body is able to ward off the infection on its own.

How it links to colon cancer

Researchers of the present study, gathered data from patients in Scotland and analysed cases of early onset and later onset colorectal cancer.

The researchers compared a total of 7,903 individuals with colorectal cancer with 30,418 individuals in the control groups.

Of the study participants with a colorectal cancer diagnosis, 445 were under the age of 50.

The researchers examined the prescription of oral antibiotics and antibiotic exposure period in those with colorectal cancer and in the matched control groups.

They found a link between antibiotic use and an increased risk of colon cancer in both the early and later onset categories.

However, this risk was not associated with every type of antibiotic or every type of colorectal cancer. The researchers note that,

...among both age groups, most classes of antibiotic were not significantly associated with colon, rectal, or distal colon cancer.

Dr. Michael Woodworth, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, told Medical News Today:

It may be that the antibiotics were prescribed for symptoms from a tumour that were misattributed to an infection, that comorbid conditions, such as IBD, could have increased likelihood of getting antibiotics and tumours, or, as the authors suggest, a more direct negative effect of antimicrobials on bacterial communities that may have otherwise helped protect from development of cancer.

Current information favours careful use of antibiotics, and researchers are still studying further risks associated with their use.