TUESDAY, Oct. 6, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with acute appendicitis, appendectomy is associated with lower subsequent risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) compared with antibiotic management alone, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons, held from Sept. 26 to 29 in Washington, D.C.
Meghana Akula, from the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the incidence of CRC following appendectomy versus antibiotic management of acute appendicitis. After propensity score-matching, 15,774 patients were included in the appendectomy cohort or antibiotics-alone cohort.
A total of 15,616 appendectomy patients and 15,295 antibiotic-treated patients remained at risk after exclusion of patients with prior CRC. The researchers found that incident CRC occurred in 0.7 and 1.7 percent of appendectomy and antibiotic-treated patients, respectively. Significantly lower CRC risk was seen in association with appendectomy (risk ratio, 0.42; odds ratio, 0.42). Improved CRC-free survival was seen in the appendectomy cohort in a Kaplan-Meier analysis (hazard ratio, 0.43).
"These results should not be interpreted to mean that everyone with appendicitis needs an appendectomy to prevent cancer," senior author Valentine Nfonsam, M.D., from Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, said in a statement. "Antibiotic management remains an important option. But when we discuss nonoperative management, we should also think beyond the immediate episode of appendicitis and consider potential long-term oncologic risk and appropriate monitoring."
