Genetic link between obesity and the risk for colon cancer

Researchers have uncovered a genetic link between obesity and the risk for colon cancer. The discovery could lead to greater accuracy in predicting who is at risk for the disease, experts say.

Research has suggested that colon cancer risk rises with increasing weight, but this finding points to a genetic reason for the link.

"We have discovered that a genetic variant of the adiponectin gene, called ADIPOQ, is associated with colon cancer risk," said lead researcher Dr. Boris Pasche, director of the division of hematology and oncology at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "This genetic variant may identify individuals who have a higher risk to develop colorectal cancer," he said.

The report was published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For the study, Pasche's team focused on ADIPOQ. This gene promotes the formation of a fat hormone called adiponectin. People who inherit a common variant of the gene have up to a 30 percent lower risk of colon cancer compared with people without this gene variant, the study found.

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credit:Steven Reinberg U.S. News & World Report