Obesity linked with colorectal cancer risk: Study

A new study has revealed the link between obesity and colorectal cancer.

Thomas Jefferson University researchers have revealed the biological connection between obesity and colorectal cancer and have also identified an approved drug that might prevent development of the cancer.

Senior author, Scott Waldman, M.D. Ph.D., Chair of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics at Sidney Kimmel Medical College said, the findings have shown that the use of the pill linaclotide (Linzess), which is structurally related to the lost hormone, as a therapeutic approach to preventing colorectal cancer in obese patients.

Dr. Waldman opined that the research suggested that the colorectal cancer can be prevented in obese individuals with use of hormone replacement therapy, much as other diseases associated with hormone deficiency, such as loss of insulin in diabetes, can be treated.

Researchers also discovered that the guanylin hormone receptor acts as a growth-controlling tumor suppressor, and without the hormone, the receptor is silenced.

Waldman said this would happen extremely early in development of the cancer. When the receptor is silenced, the epithelium becomes dysfunctional, setting up the conditions for cancer development.

The study is published in the Journal Cancer Research.