Review for 10.1186/s12876-019-0964-6 (2019)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma As a Complication of Celiac Disease: Clinical and 
Diagnostic Features  
 
Version: 0 Date: 06 Feb 2019  
 
Reviewer: Reviewer 2  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
PEER REVIEWER ASS ESSMENTS:  
 
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a testable research 
question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear objective)?  
Yes - there is a clear objective  
 
 
DESIGN - Is the current approach (includ ing controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for the 
objective?  
Yes - the approach is appropriate  
 
 
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor to allow 
confidence in the results?  
Yes - experiments and analyses were perfo rmed appropriately  
 
Statistics - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?  
Yes - appropriate statistical analyses have been used in the study  
 
 
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not 
oversta ted? 
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable  
 
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work technically 
sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically sound?  
Yes - current version is technically sound  
 
 
PEER R EVIEWER COMMENTS:  
 
GENERAL COMMENTS: This is an interesting article, relating to an important but rare 
complication of coeliac disease. The review is limited by the small number of cases of 
adenocarcinoma, but this is inevitable in such a rare condition. The authors have recognised this 
limitation.  
The comparison of their findings with other similar but smaller cases studies is interesting and 
well written.  
 
 
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS:  
The only other possible addition would be in the conclusion secti on, to mention the hypothetical 
causes of small bowel adenocarcinoma in coeliac disease; this would include genetic 
predisposition, the imposed dietary changes which may predispose to cancer (low fibre etc) and 
changes in the gut microbiome. Conversely the  improved prognosis in this cohort may reflect the 
ongoing healthcare access and monitoring of this cohort, related to their coeliac disease.  
 
Note: This reviewer report can be downloaded - see attached pdf file.  
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary c ontrols?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to asse ss any statistics in the manus cript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
 
 
 
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, f ees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publi cation of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation t hat may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you curr ently applying for any patents  relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any  other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have  no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
This reviewer has been recruited by a partner organization, Research Square. Reviewers with 
declared or apparent competing interests are not utilized for these reviews. This reviewer has 
agreed to publication of their comments online under a Crea tive Commons Attribution License 
attributed to Research Square and was paid a small honorarium for completing the review within 
a specified timeframe. Honoraria for reviews such as this are paid regardless of the reviewer 
recommendation.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understan d that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted for publication, my named repor t 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand  that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be in cluded as confidential comments 
to the editor s, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal