Antibiotic Link to Bowel Cancer Precursor

Researchers say this adds to emerging evidence that the diversity of bugs in the gut could have role in the development of tumours.

Their paper appears in the journal Gut.

But experts warn that the early results need further investigation and say people should not stop taking antibiotics.

'Hostile bugs'
Bowel polyps - small growths on the lining of bowel - are common, affecting 15%-20% of the UK population.

In most cases, they do not cause any symptoms and do not become cancerous but some go on to develop into cancers if left untreated.

In this study, researchers looked at data from 16,600 nurses who were taking part in a long-term US trial called the Nurses' Health Study.

They found that nurses who had taken antibiotics for two months or more, between the ages of 20 and 39, were more likely to be diagnosed with particular types of bowel polyps - known as adenomas - in later life, compared wtih people who had not taken long-term antibiotics in their 20s and 30s.

And women who had taken antibiotics for two months or more in their 40s and 50s were even more likely to be diagnosed with an adenoma decades later.

But the study does not look at how many polyps went on to become cancerous.

The authors say their research cannot prove that antibiotics lead to the development of cancer and acknowledge that the bacteria which the drugs are deployed to treat might also play an important role.

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