Obesity and Colorectal Cancer

Overview

Journal Clin Colon Rectal Surg

Date 2012 Dec 4

PMID 23204938

Citations 14

Authors

Irena Gribovskaja-Rupp

Lauren Kosinski

Kirk A Ludwig

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Obesity is a risk factor for colorectal cancer based on its molecular and metabolic effects on insulin and IGF-1, leptin, adipocytokines, and sex hormones. Obese men have a higher risk of colorectal cancer compared with normal weight men, but the association between obesity and rectal cancer is weaker than with colon cancer. There is a weaker association between obesity and colon cancer in women than in men, and no appreciable association between obesity and rectal cancer in women. Although obesity does not seem to have an effect on the number of lymph nodes harvested with resection, obesity does seem to be associated with more-aggressive colorectal cancers in a handful of studies. Survival and local recurrence studies are contradictory with no conclusive evidence that obesity predisposes to worse overall survival or increased recurrence in colon and rectal cancers. The literature is not definitive as far as overall morbidity and mortality rates in the obese are concerned, though obese rectal cancer patients seem to incur proportionally more morbidity and mortality. Preexisting steatosis or steatohepatitis in obese colorectal cancer patients or chemotherapy-induced liver dysfunction may lead to an increased mortality in obese patients with colorectal liver metastases. Diabetes may cause poorer response to neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer and contribute to higher mortality and recurrence in colon cancer.

Citing Articles

The impact of diet-induced obesity on 5 fluorouracil-induced tumor and liver immune cell cytotoxicity.

VanderVeen B, Cardaci T, Bullard B, Unger C, Freeman J, Enos R Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2024; 328(1):C56-C77.

PMID: 39570672 PMC: 11901352. DOI: 10.1152/ajpcell.00687.2024.

Involvement of the gut microbiota in cancer cachexia.

VanderVeen B, Cardaci T, Bullard B, Madden M, Li J, Velazquez K Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2024; 327(3):C661-C670.

PMID: 38981609 PMC: 11427007. DOI: 10.1152/ajpcell.00327.2024.

Modulation of rectal cancer stemness, patient outcome and therapy response by adipokines.

Marques V, Ouro S, Afonso M, Rodrigues C J Physiol Biochem. 2022; 79(2):261-272.

PMID: 36495464 DOI: 10.1007/s13105-022-00936-y.

Obesity reduced survival with 5-fluorouracil and did not protect against chemotherapy-induced cachexia or immune cell cytotoxicity in mice.

VanderVeen B, Cardaci T, McDonald S, Madero S, Unger C, Bullard B Cancer Biol Ther. 2022; 23(1):1-15.

PMID: 35968771 PMC: 9377261. DOI: 10.1080/15384047.2022.2108306.

Outcomes of right-sided and left-sided colon cancer after curative resection.

Yang C, Yen M, Kiu K, Chen Y, Chang T Sci Rep. 2022; 12(1):11323.

PMID: 35790871 PMC: 9256690. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15571-2.

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