Pregnancy does not influence colonic polyp multiplicity but may modulate upper gastrointestinal disease in patients with FAP

Abstract

Background: Reproductive factors have been shown by epidemiology studies to alter colorectal cancer risk in women. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) patients carry a germline adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) mutation predisposing to multiple adenoma formation in the intestine. The Min mouse provides a good model of FAP, and we recently reported a significant increase in intestinal tumour multiplicity in a recombinant line of mice following pregnancy. Aim: We considered whether reproduction modulates intestinal tract disease in a large cohort of female patients with FAP (n = 180). Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that the number of colonic polyps observed was not related to the..