Abstract
CN06-01
Incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer are higher in African-American women than any other ethnic group in the United States and the disparity may be widening. The obesity epidemic in the United States has disproportionately affected African-American women, with obesity being nearly twice as prevalent in African-Americans as Whites. The causes of these increasing rates of obesity are not well understood, although it is hypothesized to be caused by dietary changes and decreased physical activity in the general population over time. An appreciable body of evidence suggests that leisure-time physical activity reduces the incidence of colon cancer. There is much less evidence on whether physical activity protects against colorectal adenomas, which are thought to be precursors to most colon cancers, although the evidence has been inconsistent. No findings have been reported on the relation of physical activity to the incidence of colorectal polyps in African-American women. We report here on the effect of obesity and physical activity on the incidence of colorectal polyps in the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), a large follow-up study of black women in the U.S.
Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):CN06-01.
Seventh AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research-- Nov 16-19, 2008; Washington, DC