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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Measurement of Heme Synthesis Levels in Mammalian Cells
Published on: July 9, 2015
Heme oxygenase-1 polymorphism is not associated with risk of colorectal cancer: a Danish prospective study
Vibeke Andersen1, Jane Christensen, Kim Overvad
1Medical Department, Viborg Regional Hospital, Denmark. vibeke.andersen@viborg.rm.dk
Objective:
Intake of red and processed meat confers risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). We wanted to test whether heme in meat promotes carcinogenesis.
Methods:
Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1, HMOX1) A-413T (rs2071746) was assessed in a nested case-cohort study of 383 CRC cases and 763 randomly selected participants from a prospective study of 57 053 individuals. Incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.
Results:
No association was found between the HO-1 polymorphism and CRC (P value for trend for the fully adjusted estimates = 0.29). No interaction with meat intake was found (P value for interaction = 0.55).
Conclusion:
The studied HO-1 polymorphism was not associated with risk of CRC suggesting that heme from meat is not important in CRC development.
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