High blood sugar levels in older women linked to colorectal cancer

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/aeco-hbs112811.php

Public release date: 29-Nov-2011
Contact: Kim Newman
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
High blood sugar levels in older women linked to colorectal cancer

BRONX, NY -- Elevated blood sugar levels are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The findings, observed in nearly 5,000 postmenopausal women, appear in the Nov. 29 online edition of the British Journal of Cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the U.S.

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Obesity—usually accompanied by elevated blood levels of insulin and glucose—is a known risk factor for colorectal cancer. Researchers have long suspected that obesity's influence on colorectal cancer risk stems from the elevated insulin levels it causes. But the Einstein study suggests that obesity's impact on this cancer may be due to elevated glucose levels, or to some factor correlated with elevated glucose levels.

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