Smoking cigarettes may be considered a cause of colon cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.
While smoking has been linked to the increased risk of being diagnosed with this disease, little is known about how it may cause colon cancer.
After analyzing data collected during the Iowa Womens Health Study, a team of researchers surveyed more than 98,000 women aged 55 to 69 about their smoking habits. Participants were asked to identify if they were non-smokers, as well as former or active smokers.
Approximately 43 percent of the women responded, and the team found that 66 percent were non-smokers, while the remaining 34 percent currently or used to smoke. The researchers also discovered that while few cases of colon cancer among participants were found in those who smoked, a specific type of the disease was linked to cigarette smoking.
The authors concluded that the results provide “additional support that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for colorectal cancer but further indicate that the smoking-related risk may pertain to specific molecularly defined colorectal cancer subtypes that develop through epigenetically mediated carcinogenic pathways.”
In 2006, an estimated 68,857 women were diagnosed with colon cancer and more than 26,000 female patients died from the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.