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. 2020 Sep 24;10(1):15670.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-72770-5.

A link between appendectomy and gastrointestinal cancers: a large-scale population-based cohort study in Korea

Youn Young Park  1 , Kil-Yong Lee  1 , Seong Taek Oh  1 , Sang Hyun Park  2 , Kyung Do Han  3 , Jaeim Lee  4
Affiliations

A link between appendectomy and gastrointestinal cancers: a large-scale population-based cohort study in Korea

Youn Young Park et al. Sci Rep. .

Erratum in

Abstract

An association between appendectomy and subsequent gastrointestinal (GI) cancer development has been postulated, although the evidence is limited and inconsistent. To provide clarification, we investigated the link between appendectomy and GI cancers in a large nationwide appendectomy cohort. This cohort was derived from the claims database of the National Health Insurance Service in South Korea and comprised 158,101 patients who had undergone appendectomy between 2007 and 2014. A comparison cohort of 474,303 subjects without appendectomy was selected after 1:3 matching by age and sex. The incidence of GI cancers after appendectomy was observed, and risk factors for GI cancers were determined by using a multivariable-adjusted proportional hazards model. Appendectomy did not significantly increase the incidence of GI cancers in the overall population (1.529 and 1557 per 1000 person-years in the non-appendectomy and appendectomy cohorts, respectively). However, appendectomy significantly increased the incidence of GI cancers in subgroups consisting of elderly (≥ 60 years) patients (adjusted HR, 1.102; 95% confidence interval, 1.011-1.201; p = 0.028) or women (adjusted HR, 1.180; 95% confidence interval, 1.066-1.306; p = 0.001).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart for the selection of study cohort.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan–Meier curves of incidence probability for gastrointestinal cancers according to appendectomy in the overall population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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