We are sorry, but NCBI web applications do not support your browser, and may not function properly. More information here...
My NCBISign In
Logo of springeropenLink to Publisher's site
Cancer Causes & Control
Cancer Causes Control. 2009 August; 20(6): 895–903.
Published online 2009 March 10. doi:  10.1007/s10552-009-9327-x
PMCID: PMC2694321

Cigarette smoking and risk of colorectal cancer among Norwegian women

Inger T. Gram,corresponding author1,2 Tonje Braaten,1 Eiliv Lund,1 Loic Le Marchand,3 and Elisabete Weiderpass1,4,5,6
Author information ► Article notes ► Copyright and License information ►

Abstract

Objective

The association between cigarette smoking and colorectal cancer (CRC) is still not established. In 2002, Norwegian women had the second highest incidence of CRC in the world. A large proportion of Norwegian women are ever smokers. We examined the association between cigarette smoking and CRC incidence among Norwegian women.

Methods

We followed 68,160 women, aged 30–69 years, from the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study who completed a questionnaire in 1996 or 1998 by linkages to national registers through 31 December 2005. Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by fitting Cox proportional hazard models. Subsequently, we estimated the population attributable fraction.

Results

Altogether, 425 incident cases of primary, invasive CRC were identified. Ever smokers had a 20% increased risk of CRC (RR = 1.2; 95% CI = 1.0–1.5), a 30% increased risk of colon (RR = 1.3; 95% CI = 1.0–1.7), and a 10% increased risk of rectal (RR = 1.1; 95% CI = 0.7–1.5) cancer compared to never smokers. The population attributable fraction was estimated to be 12% which indicated that approximately one in eight of the CRC cases could have been prevented at a population level.

Conclusion

Our results support the hypothesis that cigarette smoking is a preventable cause of CRC among women.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer, Cigarette smoking, Cohort study, Women, Norway
Articles from Springer Open Choice are provided here courtesy of Springer

Formats:

Related citations in PubMed

See reviews... See all...

Links

  • PubMed
    PubMed
    PubMed citation for this article

Recent activity

Clear Turn Off Turn On

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

See more...
You are here: NCBI > Literature > PubMed Central (PMC)
Write to the Help Desk