Colon Cancer

Smoking Linked to Colon Cancer
The link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer is undeniable and well known. Now research has implicated the dangerous habit in the development of colon cancer as well. Two large prospective studies, including both men and women, found that smoking for 35 years was associated with higher colon cancer rates. Another study examined the type of tumors present in colon cancer patients and found that those who smoked were more likely to have microsatellite instability tumors (MSI), which contain unstable DNA.

"It provides support for the idea that lifestyle factors can cause tumor mutations," says University of Utah epidemiologist Martha Slattery. Researchers found the strongest links between tobacco use and MSI among people who smoked the longest and started at a young age.

Slattery ML, Curtin K, Anderson K, et al. Associations between cigarette smoking, lifestyle factors, and microsatellite instability in colon tumors. J Nat Cancer Inst 2000;92:1831-47.

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