最近来自于以色列的一项研究表明，超重的未成年人罹患食管癌的概率是体重正常者的两倍，该项研究成果发表在美国癌症协会同行评审期刊《癌症》（Cancer）上，他们还发现较低的社会经济地位以及生活在高患癌风险的国家是未来患胃癌的决定因素。
Zohar Levi来自于以色列Rabin医学研究中心，他和他的同事在1967-2005年间测量了100万名平均年龄为17岁的未成年男性的的体重指数，并通过国家癌症注册中心，确定了哪一类人群更容易患癌症。参与者跟踪实验的时间从2.5年到40年不等，平均为跟踪时间为18.8年。
研究者们惊奇的发现17岁之前的生活状态——尤其是体重和社会经济地位——和未来癌症的发病率有很大的相关性。超重的未成年人在以后患食管癌的概率是正常体重者的2.1倍。社会经济地位低的未成年人在以后患肠型胃癌的概率高出2.2倍。接受教育低于9年的人群患癌的概率要高出1.9倍。另外，从亚洲和前苏联移民去以色列的人有更高的癌症患病率（分别为3.0倍和2.28倍的高出风险）。
“那些超重的或者肥胖的未成年人更容易罹患食管癌。另外，社会经济地位较低的人会更容易罹患胃癌”，Lewi博士说，“从心血管的角度看，40岁以上的人如果肥胖是很危险的，但是我们发现肥胖对人的影响在早年的时候就显现出来了。”但是Lewi博士指出，现在肥胖的或者社会经济地位较低的人在减肥之后或者获得较高的经济地位之后能不能降低患癌的风险尚未可知。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐的英文原文
Cancer DOI: 10.1002/cncr.28241
Body mass index and socioeconomic status measured in adolescence, country of origin and the incidence of gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma in a cohort of 1 million men.
Zohar Levi, Jeremy D. Kark, Ari Shamiss, Estela Derazne, Dorit Tzur, Lital Keinan-Boker, Irena Liphshitz, Yaron Niv, Moshe Furman, and Arnon Afek
Overweight adolescents were twice as likely as their normal weight peers to later develop esophageal cancer in a recent study from Israel. The study, which is published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, also found that lower socioeconomic status as well as immigration from higher risk countries were important determinants of gastric cancer.
Zohar Levi, MD, MHA, of the Rabin Medical Center in Israel, and his colleagues measured body mass index in one million Israeli adolescent males who underwent a general health examination at an average age of 17 years from 1967 to 2005, and through the country’s cancer registry, identified which of the participants later developed cancer. Participants were followed from 2.5 to almost 40 years, with an average follow-up of 18.8 years.
The researchers were amazed to find that events—particularly weight and socioeconomic status—up to the age of 17 years had a tremendous impact upon cancer development later in life. Adolescents who were overweight had a 2.1-fold increased risk of developing esophageal cancer. Adolescents who were of low socioeconomic status had a 2.2-fold increased risk of developing intestinal type gastric cancer. Those who had nine years or less of education had a 1.9-fold increased risk of developing this type of cancer. Also, immigrants born in Asian and former USSR countries had higher risks of developing gastric cancer (3.0-fold and 2.28-fold increased risks, respectively).
“Adolescents who are overweight and obese are prone to esophageal cancer, probably due to reflux that they have throughout their life. Also, a lower socioeconomic position as a child has a lot of impact upon incidence of gastric cancer as an adult,” said Dr. Levi. “We look at obesity as dangerous from cardiovascular aspects at ages 40 and over, but here we can see that it has effects much earlier.” He noted that it is unclear whether losing weight later in life or gaining higher socioeconomic status might reduce the risks observed in this study.
