Visceral Fat Area and Markers of Insulin Resistance in Relation to Colorectal

OBJECTIVE — Although abdominal obesity and related metabolic abnormalities are hypoth-esized to promote colorectal carcinogenesis, direct confirmation of this effect is required. Here, we examined the relation of early-stage colorectal neoplasia to visceral fat area and markers of insulin resistance. RESEARCH DESIGN ANDMETHODS — Subjects were participants in a comprehen-sive health screening conducted at the Hitachi Health Care Center, Ibaraki, Japan. During a 3-year period (2004–2007), a total of 108 patients with early-stage colorectal neoplasia, includ-ing 22 with early cancer, were identified among individuals who received both colorectal cancer screening and abdominal computed tomography scanning. Three control subjects matched to each case subject were randomly selected from those whose screening results were negative. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association of measures of obesity and markers of insulin resistance with colorectal neoplasia, with adjustment for smoking and alcohol drinking. RESULTS — Visceral fat area, but not subcutaneous fat area, was significantly positively associated with colorectal cancer, with odds ratios (95 % CI) for the lowest to highest tertile o