This is the *** Special English Health Report.
A new study has found that a fat cell gene may reduce the risk of
colon cancer in some people. The study provides what scientists
say is the first evidence of a genetic link between a fat cell gene
and colon cancer. The research could lead to better tests for the
disease as well as measures to help prevent it.
Current evidence suggests a relationship between obesity, insulin
resistance and colon cancer risk. The scientists say what they
have found now is an area of a gene that is connected with the
cancer risk. They say this area is most likely not the cause of the
disease, but they think it is where the connection comes from.
The gene is involved in the formation of a hormone called
adiponectin. Some people have higher levels of this hormone
in their blood, others have lower levels. Higher levels have been
linked with lower rates of obesity and insulin resistance. And
lower levels have been linked with higher rates.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published
the new findings last week. Boris Pasche from the
Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama
at Birmingham led the research.
Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths.
Every year it kills almost six hundred eighty thousand people
around the world. And doctors find more than one million new
cases. The disease is highly treatable if discovered early.
The research involved two studies with a total of about one
thousand five hundred people. The larger of the two studies
involved New Yorkers of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Colon
cancer is more common in Jews of eastern European ancestry
than in the general population. The other study involved people
of different ethnicities from Chicago, Illinois.
Currently, in the United States, the general advice is for
colonoscopy tests for colon cancer to begin at the age of fifty.
A colonoscopy can find and remove growths before they
become cancerous. But the test is invasive and can be
uncomfortable.
A study last month in the New England Journal of Medicine
expressed support for a test called a virtual colonoscopy. It
uses X-ray and computer technology to search for growths,
but cannot remove them. There are still some questions about
the effectiveness of a virtual colonoscopy compared to a
traditional one. But doctors hope it might appeal to people
who would otherwise not be tested at all.
And that's the *** Special English Health Report, written by
Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.
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