Diet and adenomatous polyp risk

Abstract

Studies of risk factors for colonic adenomatous polyps have been reported in greater numbers in 1993 than in all previous years combined. This explosion in interest in polyps has not arisen because polyps themselves cause serious illness. They are in the vast majority of cases asymptomatic. However, adenomas have become the surrogate for colon cancer in a number of phase III dietary intervention trials. These trials were undertaken at a time when very little was known of adenoma risk factors. Data accumulated in the past 18 months in general demonstrate a similarity in risk factors for cancer and polyp. Since it has also been recently established that polypectomy diminishes colon cancer risk, the adenomatous polyp has been established as an ethical and convenient surrogate for cancer of the colon. Prevention of colorectal cancer is the goal of all the above studies, and it is hoped that the dietary intervention trials currently under way will generate the data that will make prevention possible.

Apoptosis Cascade Proteins Are Regulated In Vivo by High Intracolonic Butyrate Concentration: Correlation With Colon Cancer Inhibition

“…Dietary fibers have been shown to protect from and/or inhibit tumor devel-apoptotic cascade pathways (30,32). Caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, act as central mediators of apop-opment (5, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Mutanen et al (17) demonstrated that tosis (33,34) and contain at least 14 isolated and cloned rats from the first group (A) were fed a standard diet (containing 2% insoluble fiber, cellulose); rats from the members (28,(34)(35)(36).…”