Patients with breast cancer may be at higher risk of colorectal neoplasia

BACKGROUND: The risk of colorectal neoplasia in breast cancer survivors is unclear. This study aimed to determine the colonic adenoma detection rate (ADR) in patients with breast cancer. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of patients with breast cancer who underwent a colonoscopy between 2000 and 2017. A control group (n=3295), comprising cancer-free patients undergoing their first screening colonoscopy, was used for comparison. RESULTS: or no family history of colorectal cancer. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the following independent factors were associated with a greater risk of colon adenoma: older age, higher BMI, family history of colorectal cancer, and personal history of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with breast cancer, the ADR was higher than the reported rates for the general population. Screening colonoscopy should be considered soon after breast cancer diagnosis in patients <50 years of age. Further prospective studies investigating our findings are warranted.