NEW YORK -- July 18, 2002 -- Young, heavy women may have twice the risk of colon cancer as similar aged women who are not overweight, but obese postmenopausal women don’t seem to have an increased risk of the disease according researchers.
While previous studies have consistently shown an increased risk of colon cancer in obese men, the situation has always been murky for women, with some studies showing higher risk and other showing lower risk.
Scientists theorized that menopausal status might play a role in these inconsistent results for women, and the research team led by Dr. Paul Terry of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York designed this study to specifically look at menopausal status and colon cancer risk for obese women.
"Our data suggest that obesity is associated with a twofold increased risk of colorectal cancer in premenopausal women but is not associated with altered risk in postmenopausal women, "Terry and his colleagues wrote. "Effect modification by menopausal status may better explain the inconsistent or weak findings in previous studies than the presumed lack of an association among women."
The researchers analyzed data gathered from a questionnaire filled out by 56,000 women aged 40-59 years who enrolled in the Canadian National Breast Screening Study. The questions covered height, weight and menopausal status among other factors. During an average of almost 11 years of monitoring the women, 527 women were diagnosed with colorectal cancer (363 colon and 164 rectal).
When the researchers analyzed the information, they found that obesity was associated with only an 8 percent increased risk of colon cancer for the entire group, which was not considered statistically meaningful. When they looked at menopausal status, however, they found that obese premenopausal women had a twofold increase in risk compared to normal weight women the same age.
"In contrast, there was no positive association between obesity and colorectal cancer risk among postmenopausal women," the researchers wrote. "If anything, there was a tendency towards a small to moderate decreased risk among obese postmenopausal women, particularly for colon cancer."
While additional study will be needed to confirm the results, the authors concluded that given the rising incidence of obesity in the United States and in particular among the young, weight control should be added to the list of potential measures younger women might take to reduce their risk of colorectal cancer.
SOURCE: Gut 2002;51:191-194
Copyright © 2001 NexCura, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of cancerfacts.com content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of NexCura. NexCura and cancerfacts.com are trademarks of NexCura, Inc. or its affiliates. Copyright © 2001. This information is for educational purposes only.
