Association between antibiotic use and colon and rectal cancer development in older individuals
Prof. Wai Keung Leung
Antibiotics may alter colorectal cancer risk due to gut dysbiosis. A retrospective cohort study in Hong Kong (97,162 individuals aged 60 years or older, follow-up 797,107 person-years) found that use of antibiotics was associated with a lower risk of cancer in rectum (aHR 0.64; 95% CI 0.54-0.76) but with a higher risk of cancer in the proximal colon (1.63; 1.15-2.32) while there was no association with the risk of cancer in the distal colon (0.99; 0.76-1.30). These effects differed with regard to anti-anaerobic/ anti-aerobic activity, narrow-/broad-spectrum, and administration route of antibiotics.
