Largest study to date finds link between body shape and risk of colorectal cancer
A recent study undertaken by an International group of medical researchers has unequivocally found a link between the type of body shape a person has and their risk of being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. This study involved 550,000 people whose data was harnessed from Biobank in the UK, along with analysis of genetic data collected from a further 800 donors. A similar, smaller study conducted in 2016 by a different team of researchers came to the same conclusion.
The findings in both these studies were that people who have one of two types of body shape are at a greater risk of colorectal cancer – and they are obese people, along with centrally obese people who also happen to be tall. Central obesity, or having an “apple shape”, means that the body’s fat distribution is mainly in the abdomen. Tall people with this body shape also appear to be at a higher risk for developing digestive diseases in general.
In studying genetic material, it was also discovered that people who had genes making them more prone to obesity when consuming an unhealthy diet, also had a greater risk of a bowel cancer diagnosis. The researchers also found that the two aforementioned body types had unique molecular pathways to this type of cancer that were driven by specific genetic patterns.
The link between these two body shapes and bowel cancer risk perhaps comes as no surprise, as both the medical profession and the general public at large are, by now, fully aware of the increased risk of all types of cancer that come with certain lifestyle choices that lead to obesity.
This latest study assessing body shape, genetic tendencies and colorectal cancer risk was published in the journal Science Advances, and can be found here:
“Tissue-specific genetic variation suggests distinct molecular pathways between body shape phenotypes and colorectal cancer”:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj1987
Colorectal Cancer Statistics
Bowel cancer is the second biggest cause of cancer deaths in the UK, after lung cancer. Every year, around 43,000 people in the UK alone are diagnosed with bowel cancer, or nearly 120 per day. What is even more alarming is the growing number of younger people under the age of 50, around 2,500 per year, who are diagnosed with the disease. Men are at a slightly higher risk than women, with a 1 in 23 lifetime risk, whereas for women, it is 1 in 25.
Signs and Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer
With the increasing prevalence of this type of cancer, along with the fact that some of the symptoms could easily be dismissed for minor ailments such as haemorrhoids, it is vital that the public are made aware of the warning signs and not to delay seeking medical treatment.
Dr Derek Ebner, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, says to keep an eye out for these four key signs and symptoms: abdominal pain, diarrhoea, seeing blood with bowel motions, as well as having iron deficiency anaemia. He also adds that blood loss from bowel movements can lead to low iron levels, even if not visibly apparent. Early diagnosis means better treatment outcomes.
Reducing the Risk of Colorectal Cancer
Aside from gender, lifestyle choices still appear to be the primary risk factor for bowel cancer risk, as this study shows. The advice from Dr. Ebner is to:
- Follow a healthy diet
- Aim for 30 minutes of exercise most days
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Don’t smoke
- Limit alcohol consumption
This latest study just serves to reinforce what we already know, but it is important that this message is constantly hammered home. That is – your lifestyle matters, and while it is impossible to completely prevent cancer if you are genetically susceptible, for example – each one of us can do our bit to make sure we don’t end up as just another cancer statistic.
