Abstract 1827: Height, obesity and colorectal adenomatous polyps: The Minnesota Cancer Prevention Research Unit case-control study

Abstract Background: Several observational studies found greater height and obesity to be associated with increased risk for colorectal cancer; however, there have been few studies of their associations with adenomatous polyps, precursors to most colorectal cancers. Methods: We investigated the association of body size characteristics with risk of incident, sporadic colorectal adenomatous polyps using data from the Minnesota Cancer Prevention Research Unit case-control study of 566 colonoscopy-positive adenomatous polyp cases, 687 colonoscopy-negative controls, and 535 community controls conducted 1991-1994. Self-administered measurements of height, weight, and waist and hip circumferences were collected at recruitment. From these measurements, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI; kg of weight/height in m2) were calculated as indicators of obesity. Results: In the multivariate analyses using the colonoscopy-negative controls, the adjusted odds ratios (OR) for adenomas across the upper three quartiles relative to the lowest quartile of height were 1.25 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.89, 1.76), 1.31 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.85), and 1.42 (95% CI: 0.96, 2.10), respectively; for WHR, the corresponding ORs were 0.82 (95% CI: 0.57, 1.18), 1.71 (95% CI: 1.15, 2.54), and 1.06 (95% CI: 0.75, 1.50); and for BMI they were 1.01 (95% CI: 0.70, 1.47), 1.28 (95% CI: 0.89, 1.82), and 1.20 (95% CI: 0.84, 1.70). For the combined effects of height and WHR and height and BMI, height, WHR, and BMI were dichotomized based on the median values among the community controls. Relative to those with shorter height and who also had a smaller WHR, those who were taller and also had a larger WHR were more likely to have adenomas (OR=1.71, 95% CI: 1.18, 2.48); the p-value for a multiplicative interaction was 0.68. Relative to those with shorter height and who also had a smaller BMI, those who were taller and also had a larger BMI were more likely to have adenomas (OR=1.50, 95% CI: 1.03, 2.19); the p-value for a multiplicative interaction was 0.72. Conclusions: These data suggest that being taller and/or overweight may be associated with increased risk for colorectal adenomatous polyps. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1827. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1827