Subgroups May Need Earlier Colon Ca Screening

“We need to be looking at gender and environment interactions in designing preventive strategies. In particular, we should be looking at earlier screening in women, smokers especially,” said Dr. Zisman of Evanston (Ill.) Northwestern Healthcare.

A limitation of the IMPAC registry is that it doesn't include data on amount of alcohol consumed. The current-drinker group thus included the full range.

In a poster presentation, Donald Garrow, M.D., showed data on 226,953 American adults who participated in the National Health Interview Survey during 1997–2003. Among the 5.9% with diabetes, 1.34% had a history of CRC, nearly three times the 0.47% rate in nondiabetic subjects. After controlling for potential confounders, a history of diabetes mellitus was associated with a 40% increased odds of having CRC, said Dr. Garrow of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston. His study was partially funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration.