More data suggest link between high glucose, colorectal cancer risk

New research underlines the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding abdominal fat, eating a healthy diet and engaging in regular physical activity, according to lead author Dr. Geoffrey Kabat (PhD), a senior epidemiologist in the department of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

“By doing these things, one is doing the best one can do to avoid insulin resistance syndrome, diabetes and heart disease, and possibly certain cancers, including breast and colorectal,” said Dr. Kabat in an e-mail interview.

Baseline glucose was positively associated with colorectal risk; the hazard ratio for the highest tertile (≥ 99.5 mg/dl, or 5.53 mmol/l) versus the lowest tertile (< 89.5 mg/dl, or 4.97 mmol/l) was 1.74. When the analysis was restricted to cases of colon cancer, the hazard ratio for the highest versus lowest baseline glucose levels was 2.25. Findings were published online Nov. 29, 2011, in the British Journal of Cancer.