Younger patients with appendicitis are more likely to have cancer of the appendix

Although appendectomy (surgical removal of the appendix) is still the most effective treatment for acute appendicitis, nonoperative management is increasingly common as recent studies have shown that antibiotics can be an effective initial treatment for many patients. A new analysis of cases in the National Cancer Database (NCDB) finds, however, that there is an increased risk of cancer of the appendix for younger patients (less than 50 years old). The increase appears to be driven by a rise in carcinoids, a slow-growing type of neuroendocrine tumor, according to study findings published online today as an "article in press" in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.