A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF WEIGHT, BODY-MASS INDEX AND OTHER ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS IN RELATION TO SITE-SPECIFIC CANCERS

The association of weight, body mass index and other anthropometric me asurements with cancer was investigated in a cohort of 7,840 men, exam ined and interviewed from 1965-1968 in Hawaii. After 23 years of follo w-up, histologically confirmed incident cases of prostate (n = 306), c olon (n = 289), lung (n = 236), stomach (n = 229) and rectal (n = 108) cancer were identified. Body weight was positively associated with pr ostate cancer. This direct association was stronger for cases diagnose d 11 or more years after examination than for those diagnosed earlier. A similar pattern was also present for the risk of colon cancer in as sociation with weight and body mass index. For lung cancer, increased subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness were associated with decrea sed risk with adjustment for cigarette smoking, but the inverse associ ation did not persist as the time interval from exam to cancer diagnos is lenghtened. There was no significant association between anthropome tric measurements and stomach or rectal cancer. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, I nc.