A prospective study of body size and colon cancer mortality in Japan: The JACC Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To determine whether body size measurements are risk factors for colon cancer death among the Japanese. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: A nationwide prospective study, the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study from 1988 to 1999. The present analysis included 43 171 men and 58 775 women aged 40-79 y who respond to a questionnaire on current weight and height, weight around 20 y of age, and other lifestyle factors. Body mass index (BMI) at baseline and 20 y of age (B-BMI and 20-BMI, respectively) were calculated. RESULTS: We identified 127 deaths from colon cancer during the follow-up of 424 698 person-years among men and 122 deaths during the follow-up of 591 787 person-years among women. After adjustments for the lifestyle factors known to modify the risk of colon cancer, weight at baseline showed a significant positive association in women, while no such association was seen in men. There was also a significant trend of increasing risk with the increase in B-BMI among women. Women with B-BMI Z28 kg/m 2 had a relative risk (RR) of 3.41 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.44-8.06) compared with those with BMI of 20-o22 kg/m 2 . 20-BMI also presented the same trend of increasing risk as B-BMI. Women with 20-BMI of o22 and B-BMI of 426 kg/m 2 , that is, excessive BMI gain, had a high RR of 3.41 (95% CI 1.29-9.02) compared with those with 20-BMI of o22 and B-BMI of o22 kg/m 2 . There were no corresponding trends of colon cancer risk for B-BMI, 20-BMI, or BMI change among men. CONCLUSIONS: These study data suggest that obesity and excessive weight gain are associated with the risk of colon cancer death in Japanese women but no such relationship was found in Japanese men.

Obesity and overweight in relation to organ-specific cancer mortality in London (UK): findings from the original Whitehall study

“…Previous studies in men suggest a direct obesity/overweight-colon cancer association, 3,4 as apparent herein, although this is not a universal result. 38 We also found a positive non-significant gradient for rectal cancer, an association that has previously been suggested to be null. 39,40 Three other studies 26,41,42 have reported an excess occurrence of malignant neoplasm of the liver in overweight persons.…”

Body Size, Weight Change, and Risk of Colon Cancer

“…The Harvard Alumni Health Study reported a 2.5-fold increase in colon cancer risk for men who were overweight both at college entry and at follow-up (1962 or 1966) compared with their lightest peers (26). In contrast to our findings on weight gain, the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study (23) reported obesity and high weight gain since age 20 years to be associated with increased risk of colon cancer mortality for Japanese women but not men. A population-based case-control study (24) investigated changes in BMI at different times in adulthood and reported a positive association between change in BMI (>10 kg/m 2 ) between both the 20s and the 30s decade and the study recruitment period and colon cancer risk for women, but not men.…”

“…One study reported that this relationship was stronger for older men (6). Others have reported that women but not men with excessive adult weight gain have an increased risk of colon cancer (23,24). Weight gain since age 18 was positively associated with risk of colon adenomas in a case-control study (25).…”

Is there an Association between Variants in Candidate Insulin Pathway Genes IGF-I, IGFBP-3, INSR, and IRS2 and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in the Iranian Population?

“…Previously, the links between insulin resistance, obesity, and CRC have been noted, and therefore the important roles of insulin pathway in the etiology of CRC have been clarified (Yam et al, 1996;Tamakoshi et al, 2004). The potential associations between variants of genes encoding components of the insulin pathway and risk of CRC have been investigated in limited studies.…”