Bowel cancer may be a bigger risk for fat women than fat men

WOMEN who are apple-shaped may have a greater risk of getting bowel cancer than men with beer bellies, according to a study of more than 100,000 individuals.

They more typically gain weight on their hips and thighs, so that if they have larger waistlines, this may indicate they are carrying more fat overall. This raises the risk of cancer by secreting chemicals which cause inflammation, which it is believed, increases the chance of tumours developing.

A study led by the University of Bristol and the International Agency for Research on Cancer looked at thousands of bowel cancer patients and at those clear of the disease.

A relatively small difference in waist-to-hip ratio among women was found to increase the risk of bowel cancer by 25 per cent. But for men, the same waist-to-hip difference raised this by five per cent.

Body mass i ndex, however, appeared more important for men. This is a calculation based on a person’s weight divided by their height.

For an increase in a man’s BMI score of 4.2 points, their risk of bowel cancer was 23 per cent higher. For women, the same increase meant only a nine per cent higher risk.

Dr Emma Vincent of the University of Bristol, said: ‘We found that where fat is on our body may lead to different health outcomes for men and women. This could inform specific prevention strategies.’ The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, looked at 125,915 people from 45 studies on bowel cancer.