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Gendered Puffery Cancer risk increases in smokers and women are more sensitive to impact, research shows 
A recent study shows that women may be more susceptible than men to health risks such as colon cancer as a result of exposure to smoke. The results of this study, along with a study about the effects of smoking on pancreatic lesions, were presented at the 73rd Annual ACG Scientific Meeting in Orlando. In the first study, conducted by Joseph C. Anderson, M.D., University of Connecticut, Farmington, and Zvi A. Alpern, M.D., Stony Brook University, New York, researchers looked at the quantity of tobacco exposure to increased colorectal cancer risk in men and women. They compared the numbers using "pack years," calculated by multiplying the packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years smoked. The Drs. analyzed the data of 2,707 patients who underwent a colonoscopy between 1999 and 2006. They collected data such as age, weight, height, family history of colon cancer, medication use, surgery, exercise, diet and smoking history. Using this information, patients were studied to see the impact of "pack years" on their colon cancer risk, adjusting the data for potentially confounding factors such as family history, age and body mass index. The study found that women who smoked less than 30 pack years were almost twice as likely to develop significant colorectal neoplasia, an abnormal proliferation of cells, compared to women who were not exposed to cigarette smoke. "While men and women shared a similar two-fold risk for developing significant colorectal neoplasia, women required less tobacco exposure in pack years than men to have an increase in colorectal cancer risk," Dr. Anderson says. In a separate study, conducted by Dr. Emmy Ludwig at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, research showed that smoking could increase the risk of pancreatic cancer precursor lesions, especially in cases where the patient had a strong family history of the disease. Ludwig analyzed at-risk relatives of familial pancreatic cancer patients using MRCP (magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography) or CT scan. If pancreatic abnormalities showed up, an endoscopic ultrasound was performed. Of the 113 relatives who completed at least one screening test, 8.9 percent had a significant pancreatic lesion. The research showed that 70 percent of relatives who had pancreatic abnormalities had a history of smoking compared to 40 percent of participants who did not smoke. "Our study suggests that smoking may have been responsible for the development of the precursor lesions, especially in light of the fact that smoking is a known risk factor for pancreatic carcinoma," Dr. Ludwig says. |
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