@article {Stef{\'a}nsson499, author = {T Stef{\'a}nsson and A Ekbom and P Spar{\`e}n and L P{\r a}hlman}, title = {Increased risk of left sided colon cancer in patients with diverticular disease.}, volume = {34}, number = {4}, pages = {499--502}, year = {1993}, doi = {10.1136/gut.34.4.499}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group}, abstract = {Certain similar epidemiological characteristics suggest a common aetiology for colon cancer and diverticulosis of the colon. The hypothesis that patients with diverticulosis are at increased risk of developing colon cancer was tested in a retrospective, population based, cohort study in Sweden. A total of 7159 patients (2478 men and 4681 women) who had been given a hospital discharge diagnosis of diverticulosis or diverticulitis of the colon between 1965 and 1983 were followed up during 1985 by means of record linkage procedures. After excluding the first 2 years of follow up, there was not a significant increase in risk (SIR) overall for colon cancer (SIR = 1.2; 95\% confidence intervals (CI) 0.9, 1.6) or for rectal cancer (SIR = 1.1; 95\% CI 0.7, 1.7). The observed number of right sided colon cancers was as expected (SIR = 0.9; 95\% CI 0.5, 1.5). In contrast, an increased risk of left sided colon cancer was found both overall (SIR = 1.8; 95\% CI 1.1, 2.7) and consistently in men and women as well as in different age groups. This risk increased the longer the follow up (p value for trend \< 0.001). These results do not support the hypothesis of a common aetiology in diverticular disease and colonic cancer but suggest a causal relationship between diverticular disease and cancer of the left colon.}, issn = {0017-5749}, URL = {https://gut.bmj.com/content/34/4/499}, eprint = {https://gut.bmj.com/content/34/4/499.full.pdf}, journal = {Gut} }