Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
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.

PubMed Disclaimer

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.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Meresse B., Malamut G., Cerf-Bensussan N. Celiac disease: An immunological jigsaw. Immunity. 2012;36:907–919. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2012.06.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Di Sabatino A., Corazza G.R. Coeliac disease. Lancet. 2009;373:1480–1493. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60254-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Singh P., Arora A., Strand T.A., Leffler D.A., Catassi C., Green P.H., Kelly C.P., Ahuja V., Makharia G.K. Global Prevalence of Celiac Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatoll. 2018;16:823–836. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2017.06.037. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Stene L.C., Honeyman M.C., Hoffenberg E.J., Haas J.E., Sokol R.J., Emery L., Taki I., Norris J.M., Erlich H.A., Eisenbarth G.S., et al. Rotavirus infection frequency and risk of celiac disease autoimmunity in early childhood: A longitudinal study. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2006;101:2333–2340. doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2006.00741.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lionetti E., Castellaneta S., Francavilla R., Pulvirenti A., Tonutti E., Amarri S., Barbato M., Barbera C., Barera G., Bellantoni A., et al. Introduction of gluten, HLA status, and the risk of celiac disease in children. N. Engl. J. Med. 2014;371:1295–1303. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1400697. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms