Loading...
People with untreated celiac disease are generally believed to be at elevated risk for cancer, and this heightened risk fuels the rationale for celiac screening programs.
To elucidate this risk, researchers studied incidence of cancer in patients with celiac antibodies compared to those without in a cohort of 8000 Finnish adults who underwent general serologic testing between 1978 and 1980. Among 6849 people with analyzed serum samples, 202 were positive for tissue transglutaminase antibodies, and 73 were positive for endomysial antibodies (EMAs). The samples were analyzed in 2001. Therefore, patients who were positive for antibodies were largely untreated for celiac disease since the original drawing of serum. Incident cancers in this cohor…