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WOMEN WITH HIGH BONE MASS MAY BE AT A DECREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING COLON CANCER
10 January 2001 - Boston University
| Women with high bone mass may be at a decreased risk of developing colon cancer as compared with women with low bone mass, according to researchers at Boston University School of Medicine. The study, which recently appeared in the American Journal of Epidemiology, suggests that this association may be the result of greater estrogen exposure in women with increased bone mass. This is the first study to examine the effect of cumulative estrogen exposure on colon cancer risk. |
Women with high bone mass may be at a decreased risk of developing colon cancer as compared with women with low bone mass, according to researchers at Boston University School of Medicine. The study, which recently appeared in the American Journal of Epidemiology, suggests that this association may be the result of greater estrogen exposure in women with increased bone mass. This is the first study to examine the effect of cumulative estrogen exposure on colon cancer risk. Using data on 1,394 Massachusetts women in the Framingham Study who underwent hand radiography in 1967-1970, the researchers examined the association between bone mass and colon cancer incidence. Comparing the metacarpal bone mass in middle-aged and elderly women the researchers found women with the highest bone mass were half as likely to develop colon cancer than those women with the lowest mass. "The result of this population-based study suggests that bone mass in middle-aged and elderly women is a predictor for colon cancer," said lead author Yuqing Zhang, MPH, DSc, an assistant professor of medicine and public health at BUSM. "Although the biological mechanisms linking bone mass to the risk of colon cancer are not fully understood, cumulative exposure to estrogen may play a role," he added.
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Boston University has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research in a wide range of disciplines and a demonstrated commitment to fostering innovative interdisciplinary research. The Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education supports the University in facilitating research at the both the student and faculty levels.Our mission is to enhance and encourage research at Boston University and to provide a climate conducive to maintaining the University at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities. We work with the Boston University community to plan and coordinate interdisciplinary research and represent the University in research matters related to Inter-University consortia. To encourage new, innovative, and cross-disciplinary efforts, this office administers the Special Program for Research Initiation Grants (SPRInG). We showcase graduate research at Science & Technology Day. This annual event features nearly 200 research posters by graduate students from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses working in a wide range of disciplines. Our annual research magazine, Research at Boston University, informs a wide audience about a selection of our significant research findings and ongoing studies at Boston University. We also maintain a strong presence on the web through this site and through the Science Coalition’s website, which brings our research successes to the attention of Congress and other policy makers in the federal government. To assist Boston University researchers, this office oversees the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Charles River Campus , the research administration on the Medical Campus, the Office of Research Compliance, and the various graduate programs. For the development of commercially viable ideas, we administer the Provost's Innovation Fund and work closely with the Office of Technology Transfer. We also coordinate proposals where there are institutional limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted, cost sharing requirements, significant laboratory renovations, or other special circumstances. This office assists departments and centers to achieve a diverse faculty and graduate student body through our membership and activities with the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and through our affiliation with the Clare Boothe Luce program of the Henry Luce Foundation. |
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