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10-01-2018 | Head and neck cancers | News

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GERD may increase risk for upper aerodigestive tract malignancies

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medwireNews: A US case–control study has revealed an association between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and an increased risk for neoplasms of the upper aerodigestive tract in older individuals.

The researchers used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and Medicare databases on 13,805 patients aged at least 66 years with upper digestive tract malignancies and an equal number of matched controls without cancer. And found that the presence of GERD was associated with an increased likelihood of developing all included neoplasms, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.40 for paranasal sinus cancer to 2.86 for laryngeal cancer.

“Regardless of causality, or lack thereof, the systematic nature of the association in this large, population-based study may be relevant for identifying an at-risk population, improving surveillance, and initiating earlier treatment,” Edward McCoul (Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana) and collaborators write in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.

They add: “Future studies are necessary to determine this effect on a younger cohort and to investigate causation.”

By Shreeya Nanda

medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare. © 2018 Springer Healthcare part of the Springer Nature group

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