Overeating ups risk of digestive system cancers

People with unrestrained eating behaviour are at higher risk of gastrointestinal (GI) tract cancers, reveals a recent study.

The authors followed participants in the Nurses’ Health Study who were free of cancer and reported dietary information in 1994 for ≤18 years. They estimated the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) for unrestrained eating (eating anything at any time, no concern with figure change, or both) and risk of digestive system cancers using Cox regression models.

A total of 2,064 digestive system cancer cases were recorded among 70,450 eligible participants in analyses of eating anything at any time during follow-up. In analyses of no concern with figure change, 2,081 cancer cases were documented among 72,468 participants.

Fully adjusted analyses revealed that women with the behaviour of eating anything at any time had greater risk of overall digestive system cancer (HR, 1.22, 95 percent CI, 1.10–1.35), overall GI tract cancer (HR, 1.33, 95 percent CI, 1.18–1.50), buccal cavity and pharynx cancer (HR, 1.50, 95 percent CI, 1.02–2.21), oesophageal cancer (HR, 1.62, 95 percent CI, 1.01–2.62), small intestine cancer (HR, 1.92, 95 percent CI, 1.02–3.59), and colorectal cancer (HR, 1.20, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.38), and a nonstatistically significant increased risk of stomach cancer (HR, 1.54, 95 percent CI, 0.96–2.48) compared to those without the said behaviour.

No statistically significant correlation was noted for pancreatic cancer and liver and gallbladder cancer. In addition, the combined effect of eating anything at any time and having no concern with figure change correlated with significantly increased risk of overall digestive system cancer (HR, 1.27, 95 percent CI, 1.10–1.46), overall GI tract cancer (HR, 1.45, 95 percent CI, 1.23–1.71), and colorectal cancer (HR, 1.34, 95 percent CI, 1.11–1.63) compared to those exhibiting the opposite behaviour.

“The potential importance of unrestrained eating behaviour modification in preventing gastrointestinal tract cancers should be noted,” the authors said.