ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Previous studies indicate that pre-admission glucocorticoids increase the risk of perioperative complications. AIM: To examine whether pre-admission use of glucocorticoids affects 30-day mortality after colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study by linking Danish medical registries. All residents in Denmark who underwent CRC surgery from 2001 to 2011 were included. We characterised subjects who filled their most recent glucocorticoid prescription ≤90, 91-365 and >365 days before their surgery date as prevalent, recent and former users, respectively. Prevalent users were subgrouped into new (first-ever prescription ≤90 days before surgery date) and continuing users. We estimated 30-day cumulative mortality by the Kaplan-Meier method and corresponding mortality rate ratios (MRRs) using Cox proportional hazard regression, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Of the 34 641 CRC patients included, 3966 (11.5%) had filled one or more prescriptions of glucocorticoids within the year before the surgery date. Thirty-day mortality among prevalent users of oral glucocorticoids was 15.0% vs. 7.3% among non-users [MRR = 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03, 1.58]. Among new users, the 30-day mortality was 17.8% (MRR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.30, 2.83) while it was 14.2% among continuing users (MRR = 1.13; 95% CI: 0.88, 1.44). No associations were found for recent or former use of oral glucocorticoids nor for use of inhaled, intestinal-acting, and mixed glucocorticoids. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalent use, particulary new use, of oral glucocorticoids was associated with markedly increased 30-day mortality after colorectal cancer surgery compared to patients not exposed to any glucocorticoids.
Subject(s)
Colorectal Neoplasms/surgery , Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use , Administration, Oral , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cohort Studies , Colorectal Neoplasms/mortality , Confidence Intervals , Denmark , Female , Glucocorticoids/administration & dosage , Humans , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Proportional Hazards Models , Registries , Time FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Systemic glucocorticoids are potent immunosuppressants, potentially facilitating carcinogenesis. Studies examining glucocorticoids and colorectal cancer risk are few. AIM: To investigate the association between use of systemic glucocorticoids and colorectal cancer risk, both overall and by cancer stage (localised versus metastatic). METHODS: We conducted a nested population-based case-control study in Northern Denmark (1.8 million people) using medical registries. The study included 14,158 patients with a first-time diagnosis of colorectal cancer from 1991 through 2010. Using risk set sampling, we identified 141,580 population controls, matched on age and gender. Logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Frequent use of systemic glucocorticoids (defined as >2 prescriptions) was not associated with overall colorectal cancer risk [adjusted OR (aOR) = 0.93 (95% CI: 0.85-1.00)], compared with never/rare use (≤2 prescriptions). Associations according to duration of use and doses (quartiles of cumulative prednisolone equivalents) were also near the null. Examining colorectal cancer by stage, no substantial associations were found between long-term use (>5 years) of high-dose (>5500 mg) systemic glucocorticoids and localised [aOR = 1.12 (95% CI: 0.81-1.55)] or metastatic [aOR = 0.82 (95% CI: 0.59-1.14)] cancer. CONCLUSION: Despite immunological and metabolic effects of frequent use of systemic glucocorticoids, which would be expected to increase colorectal cancer risk, we found no substantial association between the two.
