Risk of colorectal cancer after surgery for benign peptic ulceration

A historical prospective cohort study has been conducted to determine the incidence of colorectal carcinoma following gastric surgery for benign peptic ulcer disease. A total of 4131 patients from 53 hospitals in the western part of Denmark were operated upon for gastric or duodenal ulcer from 1955 to 1960 inclusive. After exclusion of patients who were diagnosed as having a primary cancer before the ulcer operation and 0.5 per cent of the patients whose present status could not be defined, 2975 men and 943 women survived more than one month after the operation and thus formed the cohort of the study. They were followed up to their death or the end of the year 1982. Eighty-four colorectal carcinomas were observed against the expected 85.9. There was no significant difference between observed or expected number of cancers neither among men nor women.