Tight belts not a factor in esophageal cancer rise
A new study from Sweden debunks the theory that men’s switch from suspenders to belts is behind the sharp rise in throat cancer seen over the past several decades.
While known risk factors for esophageal cancer include male gender, being overweight, and having gastric acid reflux, Drs. Jesper Lagergren and Catarina Jansson of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm note, the reasons remain unclear why the disease is becoming more common.
In 2002, an Italian research team proposed that the general shift from suspenders to belts could be a factor in the rise in esophageal cancer, especially among overweight men. The theory is plausible, Lagergren and Jansson point out, given that tight belts can squeeze the stomach and increase acid reflux into the esophagus, which in turn increases esophageal cancer risk.
To investigate, they surveyed 618 patients with different types of esophageal cancer and stomach cancer, and 820 healthy controls. All were asked how frequently they had used “a belt or corset or other garment that was tightened around your waist with force” for more than three hours, 20 years previously.
About 10% of the study participants reported daily use of tight belts, but the researchers found no association between frequency of tight belt use and esophageal cancer.
This nationwide, population-based study “provides evidence against a link between the use of tight belts and the risk of esophageal or cardia adenocarcinoma,” the researchers write. “Further studies are urgently needed to find an explanation for the alarmingly increasing incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma.”
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, November 15, 2006.
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