Fecal bile acids in two Japanese populations with different colon cancer risks.

Some workers have associated fecal bile acids with colon cancer frequency. They suggest that the risk for colon cancer increases with a rise in the level of total and degraded fecal bile acids. The Japanese in Hawaii, who are at high risk for this cancer, had higher concentrations of deoxycholic acid (a degraded bile acid) in their fecal specimens than did the people in Akita, Japan, who are at low risk. However, the findings for the other bile acids were unremarkable or inconsistent. These data were suggestive, but not strongly supportive, of a relationship between fecal bile acid patterns and colon cancer risk.