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Review
. 2020 Jun 10;21(11):4155.
doi: 10.3390/ijms21114155.

Association Between Celiac Disease and Cancer

Irene Marafini  1   2 , Giovanni Monteleone  1   2 , Carmine Stolfi  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Association Between Celiac Disease and Cancer

Irene Marafini et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic enteropathy that develops in genetically susceptible individuals after the ingestion of gluten. There has been a substantial increase in CD prevalence in the last 50 years, and it is now estimated that this disease affects approximately 1% of the population in the Western world. In the large majority of cases, CD is a benign disease, characterized by the complete resolution of symptoms and a normal life expectancy after the onset of a gluten-free diet (GFD). However, failure to adhere to a strict GFD bears the risk of adverse events and increases mortality. A considerable number of studies have considered the possible association between CD and neoplasms. In particular, an increased risk of malignancies, such as cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and intestinal lymphomas, has been reported. In this review, we summarize and discuss the current evidence on the possible association between CD and cancer.

Keywords: HLA-DQ2; HLA-DQ8; T-cell lymphoma; colorectal cancer; gluten; gluten-free diet; refractory celiac disease; small bowel adenocarcinoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

I.M. and C.S. have no conflict of interest. G.M. has filed a patent related to the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases with Smad7 antisense oligonucleotides and has served as an advisory board member for ABBVIE. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

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