Strong Evidence for 11 Cancers and Obesity
An extremely comprehensive research article has been published in the British Medical Journal with strong evidence for particular cancers and being obese.
An increase in body mass index (BMI) was associated with a higher risk of developing:
- oesophageal adenocarcinoma;
- colon and rectal cancer in men;
- biliary tract system and pancreatic cancer;
- endometrial cancer in premenopausal women;
- kidney cancer; and multiple myeloma.
Weight gain and waist to hip circumference ratio were associated with:
- higher risks of postmenopausal breast cancer in women who have never used hormone replacement therapy and endometrial cancer, respectively.
The risk of postmenopausal breast cancer among women who have never used HRT increased by 11% for each 5 kg of weight gain in adulthood, and the risk of endometrial cancer increased by 21% for each 0.1 increase in waist to hip ratio.
Five additional associations were supported by strong evidence when categorical measures of adiposity were included: weight gain with colorectal cancer; body mass index with gallbladder, gastric cardia, and ovarian cancer; and multiple myeloma mortality.