Nov 3, 2005

Women More Susceptible To Colorectal Cancer From Tobacco

A new study of gender and risk factors for colorectal cancer reveals that while both tobacco and alcohol increases risk for colorectal cancer, Women who smoke are at a higher risk. Researcher Anna L. Zisman, M.D. of Evanston Northwestern Health Care presented these findings at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology. Another study presented at ACG about patients undergoing colonoscopy demonstrated that patients over 75 benefit from colorectal cancer screening in detecting cancer and potentially cancerous lesions and experience no more complications from colonoscopy than younger patients.

According to Dr. Zisman, "Understanding interactions between genetic and environmental factors, such as smoking and alcohol use, is critical for colorectal cancer risk stratification, and will help us design effective screening strategies."

Dr. Zisman and her colleagues looked at women's susceptibility compared to men. They found that while age of onset of colorectal cancer was slightly younger in males than females in the non-smoking/non-drinking group, current smokers had a markedly decreased age of presentation for both men and women.

Similarly, alcohol use was associated with an earlier age of diagnosis in males and females. "While both men and women who use tobacco and alcohol are diagnosed with colorectal cancer at an earlier age, the effect of tobacco is significantly greater in women," said Dr. Zisman.

Janet      Return to Cancer Blog Main

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Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

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Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

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Heart watch blog: About 13 million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in American men and women amounting a staggering 20 percent of all causes of death. The tremendous responsibility of running a heart blog is entrusted to Daniel. He is creating blog posts with the help and support of other bloggers.

Janet      

Cancer
We do not know the exact cause of many cancers. Many cancers like leukemia have no apparent cause. Some other types of cancers like lung cancers have identifiable causes like smoking in most cases. Lung cancer can occur in those who have never smoked in their life. It is hard to know in these cases what is causing that patients lung cancer. Factors that increase the risk of development of cancer is known as risk factors for cancer. These risk factors may be modifiable like smoking where a person can exert control or un-modifiable factors like age and gender. Smoking can cause cancers of the lungs, mouth, throat, bladder, kidneys and several other organs.