TY - JOUR T1 - Coeliac disease, gluten-free diet, and malignancy. JF - Gut JO - Gut SP - 612 LP - 619 DO - 10.1136/gut.17.8.612 VL - 17 IS - 8 AU - G K Holmes AU - P L Stokes AU - T M Sorahan AU - P Prior AU - J A Waterhouse AU - W T Cooke Y1 - 1976/08/01 UR - http://gut.bmj.com/content/17/8/612.abstract N2 - Two hundred and two patients with coeliac disease or idiopathic steatorrhoea previously reported from this unit have been reviewed after a further 10 years of follow-up. Of 20 more deaths, 10 were due to malignancy. A separate study was made of all patients with histologically confirmed coeliac disease seen to the end of 1972 and followed up to the end of 1974. Twenty-one of the 43 deaths in this series were due to malignant tumours, of which 13 were reticulum cell sarcomas. There was no evidence that patients showing sub-optimal clinical response to gluten withdrawal or persisting falt jejunal biopsies were more prone to die of cancer. A gluten-free diet did not appear to be effective in preventing malignant complications, but a longer follow-up of patients will be necessary to provide a final answer to this question. ER -