The Protective Effect of Bariatric Surgery on the Development of Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Obesity is a known risk factor for developing colorectal cancer (CRC) and is associated with the formation of precancerous colonic adenomas. Bariatric surgery (BRS) is considered to reduce the cancer risk in morbidly obese patients. However, the currently available literature yields contradicting results regarding the impact of bariatric surgery on the incidence of CRC. Methods: A systematic literature search of the Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CINAHL, Web of Science, and clinicaltrials.gov databases was undertaken following the PRISMA guidelines. A random effects model was selected. Results: Twelve retrospective cohort studies, incorporating a total of 6,279,722 patients, were eligible for inclusion in the final quantitative analysis. Eight studies originated from North America, while four reported on European patients. Patients in the Bariatric Surgery group exhibited a significantly reduced risk for developing colorectal cancer (RR 0.56, 95% CI 0.4–0.8, p < 0.001), while sleeve gastrectomy was found to be significantly associated with a smaller incidence of CRC (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.36–0.83, p < 0.001), and gastric bypass and banding did not. Conclusions: A significant protective effect of BRS against the development of CRC is implied. In the present analysis, the incidence rate of colorectal cancer was approximately halved amongst the obese individuals that were operated on.