Abstract
Energy balance, or the ability to maintain body weight by balancing energy intake with energy expenditure, appears to be important in the etiology of colon cancer. One possible mechanism whereby energy balance may be associated with colorectal cancer is through its association with insulin. In our study, we evaluate the interaction between polymorphisms in 4 genes thought to be involved in insulin‐related functions and components of energy balance with risk of colorectal cancer. Data from 2 population‐based case‐control studies of colon and rectal cancer conducted in Utah and Northern California were used to evaluate associations between body mass index (BMI), physical activity, energy intake and sucrose‐to‐fiber ratio and a CA repeat polymorphism of the IGF1 gene, the A/C polymorphism at nucleotide ‐202 of the IGFBP3, the G972R polymorphism of the IRS1 gene and the G1057D polymorphism of the IRS2 gene. A total of 1,346 incident colon cancer cases and 1,544 population‐based controls and 952 incident rectal cancer cases and 1,205 controls were available for analysis. Inconsistent associations were identified between BMI, physical activity, energy intake and insulin‐related genes. The 192/192 IGF1 genotype was associated with significant reduction in colon cancer risk among those with high physical activity (odds ratio [OR] 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.39–0.83; p interaction 0.01). Although there was no significant pattern of interaction between either BMI or energy intake and polymorphisms assessed, specific sources of energy did appear to be more related to colon cancer risk in the presence of specific IRS2 and IGF1 genotypes. A high sucrose‐to‐fiber ratio increased risk of colon cancer in men who had the IRS2 DD genotype and among men who did not have the 192/192 IGF1 genotype. In summary, these data support the importance of components of energy balance in risk of colorectal cancer. Obesity, physical activity and energy intake appear to alter risk of colorectal cancer; however, the risk appears to be minimally influenced by genetic variants evaluated. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.