Levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood is a marker for inflammation in the body. Because inflammatory bowel disease increases risk for colorectal cancer and long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs may reduce the risk, researchers wanted to know if CRP was related to colorectal cancer.
However, blood CRP doesn’t appear to increase colorectal cancer risk according to a report in the March 15, 2005 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers measured C-reactive protein in the blood of 28,000 women enrolled in the Women’s Health Study at the beginning of the study. During the following 10 years, 169 women were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Those with low CRP levels were just as likely to have colorectal cancer and those with higher levels. There was also no relationship between CRP levels and tumor size or stage.
The research team warned that the study was limited to women and that a single baseline test of CRP might not adequately reflect inflammation status.
A similar study of men in Finland reported in Cancer Research in February 2005 did find a relationship between baseline C-reactive protein levels and colorectal cancer. Men with the highest levels of CRP were nearly 3 times as likely to have colorectal cancer than those with the lowest levels. CRP had a stronger influence on colorectal cancer risk for lean men than for those with higher body mass index.
The Annals of Internal Medicine also provides an explanation of the research for patients.
c-reactive protein increased risk of colorectal cancer
Leave a Reply
Your comments are welcome. However, specific medical advice will not be provided, and we urge you to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to your personal questions. FightCRC is not responsible for the medical accuracy of any comments left by persons other than FightCRC staff members. FightCRC staff members monitor comments and may respond publicly where appropriate.
Please note that we automatically publish the name that you enter next to your post. Also note that our pages are automatically indexed by Google and other search engines, and your name may therefore appear in search results on those sites. So if you wish to remain anonymous please use a different name or enter 'Anon' as the name.
We regret that we are unable to privately answer questions left as comments. So please do not include your phone number, email or mailing address in the body of your comment. For the best personal and direct response to your colorectal cancer treatment questions, please call our Answer Line at 1-877-4CRC-111 (1-877-427-2111).