Antithrombotic therapy may be associated with earlier colon cancer detection: a retrospective study

Abstract

Background and study aims

Patients diagnosed with colon cancer after a bleeding episode are often receiving antithrombotic therapy (AT), indicating a potential link between AT and the timing of diagnosis. Our study aims to investigate the possibility that the administration of AT contributes, through the early onset of symptoms, to the early diagnosis of colon cancer.

Patients and methods

Patients being treated for colon cancer were analyzed retrospectively. Patients diagnosed after screening colonoscopy or other screening modalities were omitted.

Results

171 patients were included. Most patients were diagnosed with cancer stage III (66, 38.6 %) and II (47, 27.5 %). Fifty-five patients were receiving AT (32.2 %), while 54 (31.6) and 44 (25.7) patients presented with a bleeding event or anemia, respectively. A statistically significant association was observed between the use of AT and an earlier cancer stage at diagnosis (p = 0.002). 87.3 % of patients receiving AT were diagnosed with non-metastatic cancer, compared to 67.2 % of patients not receiving AT. Patients diagnosed after a bleeding episode or onset of anemia while receiving AT had an earlier stage of disease at diagnosis than the rest (p < 0.001), with 94.9 % of them being diagnosed with non-metastatic cancer, compared to 68.2 % of patients in other groups.

Conclusions

The use of antithrombotic drugs may lead to an earlier diagnosis of colon cancer due to the earlier appearance of complications such as bleeding or anemia. Therefore, the appearance of bleeding in these patients, despite the initial morbidity, may turn out in the long term to be a critical event that allows early diagnosis and treatment.