Study: Smoking, Drinking Up Colorectal Cancer Risk for Japanese Men

About half of the cases of colorectal cancer that occur in Japanese men might be prevented by curbing smoking and alcohol consumption, according to a study by Japan's National Cancer Center Research Institute.

The researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing ten years of data derived from 90,004 (42,540 male and 47,464 female) middle-aged and elderly Japanese, who were diagnosed with 716 cases of colorectal cancer during the study period.

"Both alcohol consumption and smoking were clearly associated with colorectal cancer in men, after adjusting for age, family history of colorectal cancer, body mass index, and physical exercise," the researchers reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

They said that regular alcohol consumption and smoking were not strongly linked to colorectal cancer risk in women.

"Colorectal cancer attributable to alcohol consumption or smoking was estimated to be 46 percent" in men, the researchers reported.

"In conclusion, approximately half of the colorectal cancer cases may be preventable by tobacco and alcohol controls in middle-aged and elderly Japanese men," the researchers added.

Other sources: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention