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Obesity linked to risk of colon cancer in women
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obesity is an important risk factor for colorectal cancer in women, perhaps more important than smoking, according to research presented this week in Philadelphia.
Among 1,252 women who underwent screening for colorectal cancer, obesity was the strongest risk factor for developing the disease, Dr. Joseph C. Anderson reported at the meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.
"Obesity accounted for one out of five of all significant polyps detected during colonoscopy," Anderson, of Stony Brook University in New York, noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.
"The strength of the association between obesity and colorectal cancer has never really been shown in other studies," the researcher said.
Among women who had colorectal cancer or pre-cancer, 20 percent were obese and 14 percent were smokers, Anderson's team found.
"This study shows that, in addition to traditional risk factors -- age, family history and smoking - obesity should also be identified as a strong risk factor for colorectal cancer," Anderson said.
"Physicians need to counsel patients about this risk," he advised. "Obesity is often overlooked in terms of colorectal cancer risk and is a growing problem because of the obesity epidemic."
Reuters Health