title: Gallbladder disease: risk factor for colorectal carcinoma?
abstract: The relation between gallbladder disease and the risk of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is examined in light of 864 consecutive adult postmortem examinations analyzed for significant associations between the state of the gallbladder (normal, cholelithiasis, and cholecystectomy) and the presence of colorectal carcinoma. Our findings supported the known association between female sex and gallbladder disease (p = 0.02) and revealed a significant association between cholelithiasis and/or cholecystectomy and colorectal cancer (p less than 0.02). The frequency of CRC was higher in patients who had a cholecystectomy than in those still with stones, but this difference was not statistically significant. The data suggests a sex-linked dependence between the state of gallbladder and CRC. However, the proper statistical test for this dependence was not significant (p less than 0.25), no doubt as a result of the relatively small amount of data for persons with gallbladder disease. We conclude that the state of gallbladder may modify the risk for colorectal carcinoma.
mesh_terms: D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012306:Risk; D012737:Sex Factors