colon rectal cancer

Important news on colorectal cancer symptoms. If you have high HDL cholesterol levels (good cholesterol), you might also have a reduced risk of colorectol cancer according to a new study.

If future work confirms this finding, those with low HDL (good) cholesterol levels should make changes to cut their chances of developing of colon cancer according to researchers.

Doctors know that lowering bad (LDL) and increasing the good (HDL) cholesterol lowers your risk of heart disease. This work gives you yet another reason to watch those numbers - staying free of dangerous colon cancer.

In this work, the experts compared 1,238 subjects with colorectal cancer to the same number of healthy controls. Of the participants who had cancer - just under 800 had colon cancer, with around 450 diagnosed with rectal cancer.

The team looked at blood samples and diet-lifestyle questionnaires filled out by the participants and found that subjects with elevated levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, along with another blood fat known as apolipoprotein A (apoA), had the lowest chance of developing cancer of the colon. There was no impact on rectal cancer rates.

For every 16.6 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) rise in good cholesterol, colon cancer risk was reduced by 22%, while a 32% increase in apoA brought the chances of colon cancer down by 18%. For a small number of participants followed for over two years, only the HDL levels were associated with a reduced risk of cancer of the colon.

This particular relationship is independent of other markers in blood that are tied to cancer. Things like inflammation, insulin resistance and free radicals. But is it the HDL cholesterol or some other biological factor that comes with good cholesterol that's responsible for the reduction in risk?

The reduced follow up period, only 3.6 years, is considered a limitation of the research, though the study has been well designed according to experts who had no part in the research, and is the largest ever of good cholesterol and risk of cancer of the colon.

Cancer of the colon starts in the large intestine (known medically as the colon) or at the end of the colon, the rectum. The American Cancer Society points out that colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer related deaths in the U.S.

Nearly all colon cancers start out as benign polyps that develop into cancer over time. The good news is that finding the cancer early, at the polyp stage when it's small and hasn't had chance to spread, is a key to a complete cure.

The team speculates that good cholesterol's anti-inflammatory properties might be the reason for the finding, but understand that more work is needed. If other studies bear out this finding, it may be that HDL levels become useful in assessing a patient's colon cancer risks.

If you're worried about your own risks of developing colorectal cancer symptoms, the best recommendations are to try and achieve high HDL cholesterol levels by stopping smoking, being more active on a regular basis, get your weight under control and limit your intake of both red/processed meats and alcohol.

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Australian researchers have come upon some interesting findings while assessing colon cancer risk. After examining the eating patterns of just under 1000 patients suffering with colorectal cancer, along with another 1,021 control subjects without the disease, they found that eating certain fruits and veggies was associated with a lower risk of cancer for both the upper and lower colon.

While fruits and veggies have been researched extensively in terms of colon cancer risk, no work has been done in terms of food intake and the site of the cancer within the colon. If these findings are repeated in larger studies, this might spur recommendations for a higher consumption of veggies as a way to reduce the cancer risk in the lower part of the colon.

Eating the brassica veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale and turnips appears to bring down the risk for cancer forming in the upper area of the colon.

Both fruit and veggie intake (even total veggie intake on its own) cut the risk of cancers of the lower colon.

Eating more apples, as well as dark, yellow veggies was also associated with a significantly smaller chance of colon cancer developing in the lower regions.

Unexpectedly, higher consumption of fruit juice was tied to a higher risk of rectal cancer.

So where does this leave you if you're at risk, or know someone who is?

Work to avoid as many of the risk factors for this form (and all forms) of cancer as you can. Make the changes to your diet (low fat, high fiber) that bring your body more of the good, natural, healthy foods and limit (or eliminate) the calorie and saturated fat laden treats.

Get up and get active - 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise each day is a good goal to work for. And make other changes in your lifestyle - such as quitting smoking or limiting your alcohol Intake - those will also help cut your chances of getting colon cancer.

Experts know there is no one cause of colon cancer. Nearly all of these cancers start out as benign (non cancerous) polyps. From the time those first unusual cells grow into polyps, experts believe it takes an average of 10 - 15 years for cancer to form. Regular screening finds, and gets rid of, these polyps while they are non-cancerous.

This is why it is vital to get the screenings (usually starting at age 50) that are recommended for you. Colonoscopy is the standard test used to view the whole colon, and therefore the best screening process for cancer in this body system.

By being screened as your doctor recommends, before you have any symptoms, you'll have the best chance of any cancer being found while it is still small, and most treatable.

The American Cancer Society estimates that this type of cancer a leading cause of cancer related deaths in the U.S. In 2011, it will claim an estimated 49,380 lives. The good news is that the death rate has dropped in the last 15 years, surely the result of increased colon cancer risk awareness and more of us being screened for this disease.

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Good news for fish lovers. A systemic review and meta-analysis conducted on 41 studies finds that those who eat lots of fish might reduce risk of colon cancer and rectal cancer.

The analysis is one of many reports to suggest eating fish is very good for your health. The work focused on fresh fish, though the study authors can't say what varieties of fish were eaten, or how they were prepared.

Doctors know that cooking temperatures may well have an impact on colorectal cancer. This comes from recent studies that have found eating meat and fish that's BBQ'd or grilled over a high heat appears to bring an increased risk of cancer.

Researchers in China examined 41 studies on fish intake from places like the U.S., Norway, Japan and Finland and others that were published between 1990 to 2011. The findings show that consumption of fish is inversely (intake goes up, the disease risk goes down) associated with colorectal cancers.

Frequently eating fish was linked to a 12% reduced risk of having (or dying from) cancers of the colon or rectum according to the researchers. The effect of eating fish was strongest for the rectal cancers - those who consumed the greatest volumes of fish showed a 21% lower risk of rectal cancer compared to those who consumed the least amount. For colon cancers the reduction in risk was just a few percentage points, meaning it may have been down to chance.

This finding held even after accounting for family history of these cancers, age, alcohol intake and red meat consumption as well as other known risk factors.

Another study published in February 2012 found that women who ate three portions of fish each week had a lower chance (a 33% reduction in fact) of risk of colon polyps than did women who ate fish less often. Doctors now know that nearly all cancers of the colon begin as benign polyps on the lining of the intestinal tract that if given time develop into cancer. This is why having recommended screenings, at the appropriate ages, is so important. Still one in three adults skip this potentially life saving procedure. A dangerous choice.

The American Cancer Society tells us that colorectal cancer is one of the leaders in terms of cancer related deaths in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 143,000 Americans were diagnosed with colorectal cancer during 2007, the most recent statistics available. The good news is that catching these cancers early can often lead to a full cure.

The take home message? If you eat a lot of fish today, eating more might not necessarily be better. But if you don't, adding a serving to your diet can't hurt. Many experts believe that the foods we eat (high fat, low fiber, lots of red meat) play a role in the risks of certain types of cancers. And while this latest study doesn't prove beyond doubt that eating lots of fish can reduce risk of colon cancer, enjoying a few servings of this nutrient rich food certainly can't do you any harm, and may well do much good. After all, many delicious types of fish are a natural source of beneficial omega-3 essential fats.

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