Rx List Blog - Health News, Drugs Information » Colon & Colorectal Cancer news

Hormone replacement tied to lower colon cancer risk

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:26:00 +0000

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can carry serious health risks, but a new study adds to evidence that menopausal women who use the hormones may have lower odds of developing colon cancer.

The study, which followed nearly 57,000 California teachers, found that women who were using HRT at the outset were 36 percent less likely to develop colon cancer over the next decade than those who had never used HRT.

Of the 34,433 HRT users, 193 were diagnosed with colon cancer during the study period; that compared with 151 cases among the 13,778 women who had never used hormone replacement.

High vitamin D levels, lower colon cancer risk?

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:51:00 +0000

Higher levels of vitamin D in the blood may help protect both men and women from cancers of the colon and rectum, confirm results of the largest study ever conducted on the topic.

Among more than 1200 people who developed colorectal cancer and an equal number who did not, researchers found that those with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had a nearly 40 percent reduced risk of developing colorectal cancer compared to those with the lowest levels.

The findings from the EPIC study - short for European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition—confirm previous findings from smaller studies conducted largely among North American populations.