RISK FACTORS OF COLORECTAL POLYPS IN MALE POPULATION OF SOUTH-EASTERN SICILY

Background and aim: Sporadic colorectal cancer arises mostly from polyps. So it is very important to identify risk factors of colorectal polyps. We evaluated the association between cigarette smoking, coffee consumption and incident colorectal polyps in a male population of South-Eastern Sicily screened for colorectal cancer. Material and methods: 1083 male workers (mean age 52.1 years), submitted to prevention colonoscopy from 1993 to 2001, were interviewed prior to colonoscopy to assess smoking status and coffee consumption. We excluded all patients diagnosticated with colorectal cancer. Subjects were classified as: smokers (currently smoking, 448), not-smokers (never smoked, 93), former-smokers (quitted since at least one year, 542), not-coffee-drinkers (28), moderate-coffee-drinkers (1-3 cups per day, 893) and strong-coffee-drinkers (>3 cups, 162). We divided subjects in 3 groups according to the results of colonoscopy: group 0 without polyps, group 1 with one or more adenomatous polyps, group 2 with one or more non-adenomatous polyps. Chi-square-test and multivariate analysis with logistic regression were utilized. Results:The results are reported in the Table 1. Chi-square value for smoking status was 7,14 (p=0,13). Chi-square value for coffee consumption was 2,74 (p=0,60). Logistic regression, both for smoking and coffee, was performed twice: 1) comparing negative (group 0) vs positive (groups 1 and 2) subjects and 2) comparing group 0 (negative) vs group 1 (adenomatous polyps). In the first analysis we found: 1) coffee consumers are not at risk when compared with non consumers (p=0.826 and p=0.789); 2) non-smokers and former-smokers are not at risk (p=0.153); 3) smokers are at risk when compared with nonsmokers (OR=1.99; p=0.014). In the second analysis no difference was found for smoking or coffee consumption. Conclusions:In our study in males, coffee consumption is not significatively associated with colorectal polyps, while cigarette smoking is a risk factor for colorectal polyps (of all type) but not specifically for adenomatous polyps.