Cholera vaccine reduces the risk of death in colorectal cancer

Cholera vaccine use is associated with a reduced risk of death in patients with colorectal cancer, reports January's publication of Gastroenterology.

Cholera toxin can act as a modulator of the immune response with anti-inflammatory effects; it reduces development of colon polyps in mouse models of colorectal cancer.

Dr Jianguang Ji and colleagues performed a population-based study to determine whether, in patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, subsequent administration of the cholera vaccine affects mortality.

The researchers identified patients from the Swedish Cancer Register who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer from 2005 through 2012.

These patients were linked to the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register to retrieve cholera vaccine use.

The decrease in mortality with cholera vaccination was observed irrespective of patient age

Gastroenterology

The team used Cox regression analysis to calculate the hazard ratio of death from colorectal cancer, and overall mortality in patients with post-diagnostic use of cholera vaccine compared with matched controls.

The team diagnosed a total of 175 patients with colorectal cancer and given a prescription for the cholera vaccine after their cancer diagnosis.

Compared with propensity score-matched controls and adjusted for confounding factors, patients with colorectal cancer who received the cholera vaccine had a decreased risk of death from colorectal cancer, and a decreased risk of death overall.

The researchers observed that the decrease in mortality with cholera vaccination was largely observed, irrespective of patient age or tumor stage at diagnosis or sex.

Dr Ji's team concludes, "In a population-based study, we associated administration of the cholera vaccine after colorectal cancer diagnosis with decreased risk of death from colorectal cancer and overall mortality."