Influence of anthropometric factors on tumour biological characteristics of colorectal cancer in men and women: a cohort study

Obesity is a well established risk factor of colorectal cancer (CRC), but how body size influences risk of colorectal cancer defined by key molecular alterations remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the relationship between height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist- and hip circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR) and risk of CRC according to expression of beta-catenin, cyclin D1, p53 and microsatellite instability status of the tumours in men and women, respectively.

Immunohistochemical expression of beta-catenin, cyclin D1, p53 and MSI-screening status was assessed in tissue microarrays with tumours from 584 cases of incident CRC in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study. Six anthropometric factors: height, weight, BMI, waist- and hip circumference, and WHR were categorized by quartiles of baseline measurements and relative risks of CRC according to expression of beta-catenin, cyclin D1, p53 and MSI status were calculated using multivariate Cox regression models.

High height was associated with risk of cyclin D1 positive, and p53 negative CRC in women but not with any investigative molecular subsets of CRC in men. High weight was associated with beta-catenin positive, cyclin D1 positive, p53 negative and microsatellite stable (MSS) tumours in women, and with beta-catenin negative and p53 positive tumours in men. Increased hip circumference was associated with beta-catenin positive, p53 negative and MSS tumours in women and with beta-catenin negative, cyclin D1 positive, p53 positive and MSS tumours in men. In women, waist circumference and WHR were not associated with any molecular subsets of CRC. In men, both high WHR and high waist circumference were associated with beta-catenin positive, cyclin D1 positive and p53 positive tumours. WHR was also associated with p53 negative CRC, and waist circumference with MSS tumours. High BMI was associated with increased risk of beta-catenin positive and MSS CRC in women, and with beta-catenin positive, cyclin D1 positive and p53 positive tumours in men.

Findings from this large prospective cohort study indicate sex-related differences in the relationship between obesity and CRC risk according to key molecular characteristics, and provide further support of an influence of lifestyle factors on different molecular pathways of colorectal carcinogenesis.