Crohn's veterans: do you have concern about cancer?

I have had Crohn's Disease for about 15 years.  My disease has been relatively mild throughout the years.

I often come to this forum for information.  But I rarely found people discuss cancers here.  I heard that Crohn's Disease increases the risk of intestinal cancers, though the life time accumulative risk is less than 10%.  Are you concerned about the risk of small bowel and large bowel cancers?  Are you going through regular check-ups to rule out cancers?

Thanks

 

I have had Crohns for almost 33 years and that is one thing I have never been concerned about. I think we are better able to detect cancer because we have many of the necessary tests ran fairly frequently. We would know sooner than the regular joe whats going on in our bodies. But to answer your question, no I am not concerned with cancer.

Even though IBS runs heavy in our family and lost one uncle to intestinal cancer, I have thought about it from time to time, but worrying needlessly about something that may never happen, only causes more stress.  I try to think positive.

Life is too short to be worrying about what may or may not ever happen.   I never give a thought to it.   I deal with what comes to me now and will deal with what comes to me later.

I've had it for 17 yrs straight now with it being constant in my colon (which is suppose to increase the risk of colon cancer each yr) and my anus...on and off in my rectom and the first couple of yrs in the small intestines as well (yes, all at the same time) but I have no worries of colon cancer or anal cancer either, I don't know why, but I just don't, guess it's a gut instinct for me.

When I first saw the perianal skin tags on my anus way back before I even got sick (this is where my CD actually started) I didn't even think cancer then, likely because I was only 15ish and had no clue you could possibly get cancer there, but my first thought was hemmies and every STUPID doc that saw them told me that's what they were, of course they were ALL wrong, so was I but what the heck did I know, I was a teenager for crying out loud...if only I knew then what I knew now, I may have been able to save myself tons of grief.

:)

I've always assumed Crohn's increases the risk of cancer- it just makes sense. When one thing in the body goes wrong, it can cause a cascade effect and lead to many other malfunctions. That being said, I don't let it bother me. Crohn's is a challenge, and I've been dealing with it for a while. Cancer would just be another challenge to deal with.

Sniper said...
I try very hard not to ,, what if ... I deal with the here and now and believe me , thats enough. I made it through a war, heart trouble, working all my life and all of these with crohns symptoms. Now my wife has cancer and we are dealing with that too. That one is the hardest for me because I feel so D@&%$# useless. As Lee Ann said, cross that bridge when and if you get to it..

Wow, my heart goes out to you and your wife.  You have been through enough!

I wish I were as upbeat as everyone else, but yes, I worry about cancer. But my concern is not due to the inherent increased risk of cancer because of having Crohn's, my concern is related to the use of the drugs I've been on to treat the disease - Imuran and Humira. It wasn't enough of a concern to refuse taking the drugs in the first place, but it was there in the middle of my mind (not right there up front and not buried in the back, so in the middle somewhere). I'm no longer on those medications, but I'm sure I will be on some biological or another, sooner or later.

Small bowel cancer is very rare, though the risk is slightly increased in Crohns. The risk of colon cancer is also elevated, but not as mush as with ulcerative colitis. Crohns patients with disease of 15-18 yeras or more are suggested to have screening colonoscopies every 2-3 years . . . and that should take care of any problems early, as colon cancer is notoriously slow growing in early stages. As someone said, we are probably better protected from intestinal cancer than the general population.

MikeB said...
Small bowel cancer is very rare, though the risk is slightly increased in Crohns. The risk of colon cancer is also elevated, but not as mush as with ulcerative colitis. Crohns patients with disease of 15-18 yeras or more are suggested to have screening colonoscopies every 2-3 years . . . and that should take care of any problems early, as colon cancer is notoriously slow growing in early stages. As someone said, we are probably better protected from intestinal cancer than the general population.

Yes, small bowel cancer is rare, but Crohn's patients have a 40-60 fold increase of risk as compared with the general population.  It is extremely difficult to diagnise small bowel cancers (not with colonoscopies).  As I know, most of the small bowel cancer patients cannot live more than 6 months after diagnosis.

Crohn's patients only have slightly increased risk of colon cancer than the general population.  And the prognosis is better for colon cancer patients.   

I never really worried about cancer, until I was Dx with chronic pancreatitis. Now I've been told I have a 1 in 5 chance
of contracting pancreatic cancer. At first that news floored me, but after the initial shock, I've kinda picked myself up,
and decided, not to dwell on it. Only when I get bad pain, do I start to worry a little. However I'm still very bitter about
the fact that I was one of the unlucky ones to get this condition, after taking 6mp. But I guess we take those kinds of
gambles with lots of our drugs....

Sniper.... keeping you , your wife and family in my prayers as well. Lord! You have been earning your wings haven't you. !
God Bless... much love,
Mary

I recall the post yuo reference, about a year or so ago. In several years on thsi forum, as a frequent poster and diligent reader of posts, that is the only instance I can recall of anyone citing a case of intestinal cancer of any type or location as a possible result fo their Crohns diease or treatment. The bottom line is you are still a lot mmore likely to get colon cancer if you have a family history or polyps, and if you are over 50, regardless of underlying medical issues like Crohns.