Saturated fats flare-up ‘small bowel cancer’ risk

Philadelphia, November 21: Besides adding inches to the already bulging waistline, dietary intake of saturated fats flares-up the risk of developing cancerdefine of the small intestinedefine, a latest American study suggests.

Though the incidence of the small intestinedefine malignancy is relatively rare compared to other gastrointestinal malignancies such as stomach cancerdefine and colorectal cancer, the cases have been increasing since the 1970s.

Also, once inflicted by the cancer of the small intestine patients become more susceptible to developing colorectal cancer, or the large bowel cancer, the second leading malignancy, researchers warn.

Underlining the need of the study, Amanda Cross, a National Cancer Institute researcher and the study's lead author noted, "Identifying modifiable risk factors for cancer of the small intestine is important not only because the incidence of this cancer is on the rise, but it may enable us to further understand other gastrointestinal malignancies."

For the study, researchers at the National Cancer Institute zeroed in on almost 500,000 men and women participants of the NIH-AARP (formally the American Association of Retired Persons) Diet and Health study. Using food frequency questionnaires the researchers tracked their food intake over an eight-year-period.

Follow-up analysis revealed 60 cases of adenocarcinomas (cancer that originates in glandular tissue) and 80 carcinoid tumors of the small intestine.

In-depth analysis highlighted a significantly elevated risk of cancers of the small intestine among patients who consumed higher amounts of saturated fats, as against those whose diet was low on saturated fats.

Interestingly, the findings did not show a connection between small intestine tumors and intake of red and processed meat, an intake largely associated to higher incidences of cancer of the large intestinedefine.

Diets high in saturated fat are already associated with an increased incidence of atherosclerosis (inflammation of the arterial blood vessels) and coronary heart disease.

Foods typically high on saturated fats include dairy products, especially cream, cheese, butter and ghee, animal fats such as suet, tallow, lard and fatty meat. Common oils like coconut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil also fall into this category.

The findings of the study feature in the November issue of the journal Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.