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Energy restriction early in life and colon carcinoma risk
Author(s) -
Dirx Miranda J. M.,
van den Brandt Piet A.,
Goldbohm R. Alexandra,
Lumey L. H.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.11052
Subject(s) - medicine , relative risk , demography , colorectal cancer , confidence interval , cohort study , depression (economics) , cohort , risk factor , residence , cancer , gerontology , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Abstract BACKGROUND This study evaluated the effects of severe undernutrition during adolescence and subsequent colon carcinoma risk. METHODS The authors evaluated The Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer (NLCS) among 62,573 women and 58,279 men aged 55–69 years at baseline. Information on diet and risk factors was collected by questionnaire in 1986. Additional information was collected concerning residence during the hunger winter (1944–1945), the World War II years (1940–1944), and father's employment status during the economic depression of 1932–1940, which were used as indicators of exposure. After 7.3 years of follow‐up, 807 colon carcinoma cases (388 females and 419 males) were available for analysis. RESULTS Multivariate analysis showed that both men and women who had lived in a western city in 1944–1945 had a decreased colon carcinoma risk (men: relative risk [RR] = 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.62–1.16; women: RR = 0.80, 95%CI = 0.59–1.09). No association between colon carcinoma risk and urban versus rural residence was found during the war years (1940–1944). Having an unemployed father during the economic depression (1932–1940) was also associated with a small decrease in colon carcinoma risk for men (RR = 0.90, 95% CI =0.62–1.31) and women (RR = 0.75, 95%CI 0.49‐1.14). In subgroup analyses, a decreased colon carcinoma risk for men and women who were in their adolescent growth spurt and living in a western city during the hunger winter of 1944–1945 was noted (men: RR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.31–1.65; women: RR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.40–1.96). No associations were statistically significant because of the limited study size. CONCLUSIONS In the current study, a weak inverse relation was found between energy restriction early in life and subsequent colon carcinoma risk for men and women. However, these findings need replication in a larger study. Cancer 2003;97:46–55. © 2003 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.11052