A large new study has found no link between eating patterns and colorectal cancer risk, suggesting that keeping one's weight down with exercise may be the best way to prevent this type of cancer, the study's lead author says.
Dr. Paul Terry of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and colleagues analyzed eating patterns and the development of colorectal cancer in 61,463 Swedish women.
During the 10-year follow-up period, 460 of the women developed colorectal cancer.
The researchers found no significant association between colorectal cancer risk and three major dietary patterns. Namely, a ``healthy'' diet with high intakes of fruits, vegetables, fish and poultry, whole-grain breads and low-fat diary products; a ``Western'' diet including processed and red meats, soda, sweets, refined breads and high-fat dairy products; and a ``drinker'' diet, reflecting the intake of alcohol.
The findings suggest that eating ``low amounts'' of foods considered ``healthy'' might be associated with a higher risk of colon and rectal cancer, while a healthy diet may be protective among younger women.
Terry and colleagues acknowledge that research on this topic has yielded conflicting results. ``Perhaps it is that the association between diet and colorectal cancer risk is complex and that there are no easy answers here,'' Terry says.
``People seeking to lower their risk might hear a news report that 'a healthy diet' will lower the risk or that a 'modern diet' will increase the risk. Our data don't confirm either of these statements,'' he explained.
``The fact that colorectal cancer risk can vary up to 20-fold across geographical regions strongly suggests that environmental factors are important,'' he added, ``but which environmental factors?''
Additional studies, preferably ones structured similarly to this one, on the role of overall eating patterns in predicting colorectal cancer risk are clearly needed, Terry's team concludes.
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Coffee may lower endometrial cancer risk
Women dread a diagnosis of endometrial cancer, but those who drink at least two cups of caffeinated coffee a day may have a lower risk for this cancer of cells lining the uterus.
Coffee drinking seemed to particularly protect overweight and obese women, study co-author Dr. Emilie Friberg, at the Karolinska Intstituet in Stockholm, Sweden, told Reuters Health by email.
Friberg's team twice surveyed 60,634 Swedish women about their coffee intake - when they enrolled in the Swedish Mammography Cohort study between 1987 and 1990, and again in 1997.
During the 17 years, on average, that the researchers followed patients, 677 women - about 1 percent -- developed endometrial cancer. The average age at diagnosis was 67.
In the overall study group, those who daily drank 2 or more cups were significantly less likely to develop endometrial cancer, compared with those who drank fewer cups of coffee.
Each additional daily cup seemed tied to a 10 percent lower risk for endometrial cancer, after allowing for age and other factors potentially tied to endometrial cancer risk among all the women.
However, they observed the strongest effect among overweight and obese women, who, Friberg's team notes, have "the highest risk for endometrial cancer."
Each additional cup of coffee seemed to decrease endometrial cancer risk by 12 percent among overweight women and by 20 percent among obese women, Friberg and colleagues report in the International Journal of Cancer.
The investigators suggest that coffee may affect blood sugar, fat cells, and estrogen, all of which play a role in endometrial cancer. However, they write that the current findings should be confirmed in other populations.
In particular, "a study also including de-caffeinated coffee would make it possible to separate the effect of coffee and caffeine," Friberg said.
Coffee drinking seemed to particularly protect overweight and obese women, study co-author Dr. Emilie Friberg, at the Karolinska Intstituet in Stockholm, Sweden, told Reuters Health by email.
Friberg's team twice surveyed 60,634 Swedish women about their coffee intake - when they enrolled in the Swedish Mammography Cohort study between 1987 and 1990, and again in 1997.
During the 17 years, on average, that the researchers followed patients, 677 women - about 1 percent -- developed endometrial cancer. The average age at diagnosis was 67.
In the overall study group, those who daily drank 2 or more cups were significantly less likely to develop endometrial cancer, compared with those who drank fewer cups of coffee.
Each additional daily cup seemed tied to a 10 percent lower risk for endometrial cancer, after allowing for age and other factors potentially tied to endometrial cancer risk among all the women.
However, they observed the strongest effect among overweight and obese women, who, Friberg's team notes, have "the highest risk for endometrial cancer."
Each additional cup of coffee seemed to decrease endometrial cancer risk by 12 percent among overweight women and by 20 percent among obese women, Friberg and colleagues report in the International Journal of Cancer.
The investigators suggest that coffee may affect blood sugar, fat cells, and estrogen, all of which play a role in endometrial cancer. However, they write that the current findings should be confirmed in other populations.
In particular, "a study also including de-caffeinated coffee would make it possible to separate the effect of coffee and caffeine," Friberg said.
Heavier breasts linked to increased cancer risk
Women with heavier busts who have been treated for breast cancer are at higher risk of its recurrence, says a new study.
These findings indicate that such patients may benefit from additional therapies, such as radiation, following surgery.
Researchers suspected that high breast density (heavier breasts) may also increase the risk of cancer recurrence after lumpectomy, but this theory has not been thoroughly studied.
Lumpectomy is a surgical procedure that involves removing a suspected malignant (cancerous) tumour, or lump, and a small portion of the surrounding tissue from a woman's breast.
Researchers led by Steven A. Narod, Women's College Research Institute (WCRI) in Toronto reviewed the medical records of 335 patients who had undergone lumpectomy for breast cancer.
Researchers found that patients with the highest breast density had a much greater risk of cancer recurrence than did women with the lowest breast density.
Over 10 years, women in the highest breast density category had a 21 percent chance of cancer recurrence, compared to a five percent chance among women in the lowest category, according to a WCRI release.
"The composition of the breast tissue surrounding the breast cancer is important in predicting whether or not a breast cancer will return after surgery," Narod said.
The study authors say their findings indicate that women with low breast density, who have a low chance of recurrence after surgery, may not need radiation but that women with high breast density could significantly benefit from the additional therapy.
These findings are slated for publication in December issue of Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society.
These findings indicate that such patients may benefit from additional therapies, such as radiation, following surgery.
Researchers suspected that high breast density (heavier breasts) may also increase the risk of cancer recurrence after lumpectomy, but this theory has not been thoroughly studied.
Lumpectomy is a surgical procedure that involves removing a suspected malignant (cancerous) tumour, or lump, and a small portion of the surrounding tissue from a woman's breast.
Researchers led by Steven A. Narod, Women's College Research Institute (WCRI) in Toronto reviewed the medical records of 335 patients who had undergone lumpectomy for breast cancer.
Researchers found that patients with the highest breast density had a much greater risk of cancer recurrence than did women with the lowest breast density.
Over 10 years, women in the highest breast density category had a 21 percent chance of cancer recurrence, compared to a five percent chance among women in the lowest category, according to a WCRI release.
"The composition of the breast tissue surrounding the breast cancer is important in predicting whether or not a breast cancer will return after surgery," Narod said.
The study authors say their findings indicate that women with low breast density, who have a low chance of recurrence after surgery, may not need radiation but that women with high breast density could significantly benefit from the additional therapy.
These findings are slated for publication in December issue of Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society.
Faulty immune memory can trigger cold sores, cancer
A faulty immune memory can trigger infections that may lead to cold sores and even cancer in some people, say researchers.
The memory circuit, identified by the research team, involves a gene and protein called DOCK8, which helps white blood cells form synapses, tiny points of cell contact, that are responsible for memory in the brain.
An increased understanding of immune memory would not only lead to enhanced vaccines but also improve the treatment of cancer, transplant rejection, auto-immunity and allergies.
"Vaccines that provoke long-lasting immunity are among the greatest advances delivered by health research, but the circuits that determine whether they work or not have been among the most difficult to decipher," said Chris Goodnow from the John Curtin School of Medical Research in Australia and co-leader of the research team.
Lapses of immunological memory also explain the reactivation of infections responsible for cold sores, shingles, yeast infections, and possibly some forms of cancer.
Katrina Randall, clinical immunologist and co-research team leader said: "Immunity normally lasts for years after we are immunised or infected because our immune system remembers the shape and 'fingerprints' of an infecting microbe..."
"When immunological memory wanes we become susceptible to infection again. For some vaccines like the tetanus vaccine this occurs after several years, and for many experimental vaccines their memory has so far proved just too short to be useful."
The findings were published in the latest issue of Nature Immunology.
The memory circuit, identified by the research team, involves a gene and protein called DOCK8, which helps white blood cells form synapses, tiny points of cell contact, that are responsible for memory in the brain.
An increased understanding of immune memory would not only lead to enhanced vaccines but also improve the treatment of cancer, transplant rejection, auto-immunity and allergies.
"Vaccines that provoke long-lasting immunity are among the greatest advances delivered by health research, but the circuits that determine whether they work or not have been among the most difficult to decipher," said Chris Goodnow from the John Curtin School of Medical Research in Australia and co-leader of the research team.
Lapses of immunological memory also explain the reactivation of infections responsible for cold sores, shingles, yeast infections, and possibly some forms of cancer.
Katrina Randall, clinical immunologist and co-research team leader said: "Immunity normally lasts for years after we are immunised or infected because our immune system remembers the shape and 'fingerprints' of an infecting microbe..."
"When immunological memory wanes we become susceptible to infection again. For some vaccines like the tetanus vaccine this occurs after several years, and for many experimental vaccines their memory has so far proved just too short to be useful."
The findings were published in the latest issue of Nature Immunology.
