Research Communication: Reflux Disease May Constitute a Risk Factor for Colonic Neoplasia

We hypothesised that long-term inhibition of gastric acid secretion may be associated with increased frequency of colon polyps (CP) and colorectal cancer (CRC). In a case-control study using the inpatient datafile of the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), we examined the concurrence of CP or CRC with non-erosive reflux disease (NERD), erosive oesophagitis (EE), Barrett's oesophagus (BE) and eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) in identical patients. The total CMS population comprised 6,462,321 individual patients. CP and CRC were significantly associated with EE, NERD and BE. Our results suggest that reflux disease is associated with an increased risk for colonic neoplasia.