This study set out to identify the environmental and genetic risk factors for bowel cancer.

Bowel cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australians, after non-melanocytic skin cancer.

About 90 per cent of bowel cancers are thought to be linked to environmental and lifestyle factors.

This study wanted to clarify the role of a range of risk factors so a way reducing the incidence could be identified.

Statewide research project

The statewide research project was funded by The National Health and Medical Research Council.

It involved 2000 participants between the ages of 40-79 years, and was carried out between June 2005 and December 2007.

Information was collected from:

• Case group: 1000 participants with bowel cancer
• Comparison group: 1000 participants without bowel cancer

The information was used to compare various risk factors, such as:   

• Diet
• Lifestyle
• Occupation
• Genetics

The overall results were used to provide information to clinicians, so that they can give advice to patient, and health professionals involved in cancer prevention programs.

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Recent publications

Boyle T, Heyworth J, Landrigan J, Mina R, Fritschi L. 2011. The effect of lottery scratch tickets and donation offers on response fraction: a study and meta-analysis. Field Methods, in press.

Boyle T, Fritschi L, Heyworth J, Bull F. 2011. Long term sedentary work and the risk of subsite-specific colorectal cancer. American Journal of Epidemiology, advance online publication.
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/03/18/aje.kwq513.abstract

Boyle T, Landrigan J, Bulsara C, Fritschi L, Heyworth J. 2011. Participants’ reasons for taking part, and views on increasing participation, in a population-based epidemiological study. Epidemiology 32: 279.
http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2011/03000/Increasing_Study_Participation.23.aspx

Tabatabaei SM, Fritschi L, Knuiman MW, Boyle T, Iacopetta B, Platell C, Heyworth JS. 2011. Meat consumption and cooking practices and the risk of colorectal cancer. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication.
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ejcn201117a.html

van Lee L, Heyworth J, McNaughton S,  Iacopetta B, Clayforth C, Fritschi L. 2011. Selected Dietary Micronutrients and the Risk of Right- and Left-Sided Colorectal Cancers: A Case-Control Study in Western Australia. Annals of Epidemiology 21: 170-177.
http://www.annalsofepidemiology.org/article/S1047-27972900359-5/abstract

Tabatabaei SM, Heyworth JS, Knuiman MW, Fritschi L. 2010. Dietary Benzo[a]pyrene Intake from Meat and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention 19:3182-3184.
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/19/12/3182.short

Iacopetta B, Heyworth J, Girschik J, Grieu F, Clayforth C, Fritschi L. 2009. The MTHFR C677T and DeltaDNMT3B C-149T polymorphisms confer different risks for right- and left-sided colorectal cancer. International Journal of Cancer 125:84-90.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.24324/abstract