Adolescent body mass index and risk of colon and rectal cancer in a cohort of 1.79 million Israeli men and women: A population‐based study
Year: 2017
Type: letter
Abstract: A recent article by Levi et al 1 examined the association between adolescence body mass index (BMI) and subsequent colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in a population-based cohort study of Israeli men and women.They observed that being overweight and obese in adolescence increased the risk of subsequent colon cancer in both men (hazard ratio [HR] for overweight, 1.53; HR for obesity, 1.54) and women (HR for overweight, 1.54; HR for obesity, 1.51).Moreover, adolescence obesity was associated with an increased risk of subsequent rectal cancer risk for men (HR, 1.71) and women (HR, 2.03).The study was large and provided important new data regarding obesity in early life and CRC risk.Because of similar magnitudes of risk of CRC associated with BMI in men and women, the authors concluded that the findings did not support a sex difference in the association between BMI and CRC risk, as had been hypothesized.2 However, these results are entirely compatible with the sex difference concerning the association between obesity and CRC as proposed.A key feature of the new study by Levi et al 1 was the predominance of earlyonset CRC, with a median age of 49.4 years at the time of CRC diagnosis.As we summarized in our commentary, 2 based on data from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, adolescent body fatness was found to be a stronger CRC risk factor among women than among men.3 Furthermore, a Mendelian randomization analysis of obesity-related genes 4 that are associated with early-onset obesity 5,6 found a stronger association with CRC in women compared with men.As noted in a meta-analysis, 7 high premenopausal BMI but not postmenopausal BMI was associated with an increased risk of CRC in women.Thus, up to approximately the age of menopause, obesity, including in adolescence, is a strong risk factor for CRC for both men and women and, if anything, is stronger in women.The sex divergence occurs for weight gain after menopause, or approximately after age 50 years.In support of this, a meta-analysis 8 demonstrated that high Cancer
Source: Cancer
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.31060
Language: English
Topic: Cancer Risks and Factors
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3022464342