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‹ Mon · 27 Apr 2026
Underserved or high-risk populations

Association Between Allostatic Load and Incident Colorectal Cancer—A Prospective Study in a Multiethnic Asian Population

High cumulative stress markers predict colorectal cancer risk in Asian populations, potentially enabling early screening of vulnerable individuals.

This large prospective study (n=30,443; 162 CRC cases; median follow-up 7.2 years) in a multiethnic Asian population demonstrates that high allostatic load is independently associated with 53% elevated colorectal cancer risk. This finding extends prior Western evidence to Asian populations and suggests allostatic load could serve as a scalable population-level cancer risk stratification tool.

What the study was

Study design
Prospective cohort study (registry-linked)
Population
Chinese, Malay, and Indian adults ≥18y in Singapore Multi-Ethnic Cohort
Sample size
30443
Category
Prevention
Maturity
Validated
Journal
Cancer Medicine

Why it surfaced

Large Asian cohort (n=30k) linking physiological stress burden to CRC incidence; extends allostatic load research to underrepresented multiethnic Asian populations with policy relevance for cancer prevention strategies.

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