Obesity and exercise may affect bowel cancer risk

People who are obese could be at a higher risk of developing a certain type of bowel cancer while exercise lowers the risk, a study suggests.

Researchers in the US analysed data from thousands of men and women to determine if there was a link between weight, exercise and the risk for CTNNB1-positive or CTNNB1-negative bowel, or colorectal cancer.

A higher body mass index (BMI) was linked to an increased risk of CTNNB1-negative colorectal cancer, while physical activity was associated with a lower risk.

Both BMI and physical activity had no effect on the risk for CTNNB1-positive colorectal cancer, according to the research pubished in the journal Cancer Research.

Dr. Shuji Ogino, an associate professor of pathology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an associate professor in the department of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, said the results provided further evidence for a causal role of obesity and a physically inactive lifestyle in this specific type of bowel cancer.

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