Warning issued as being overweight can increase risk of four different cancers
Overweight people face an increased risk of developing four types of cancer, a study has warned.
Researchers found that carrying extra weight means you are more likely to develop tumours of the bowel, kidney, pancreas and ovary. The latest study, published in BMC Medicine, looked at health data from more than 577,000 adults and investigated the association between body mass index, cardiometabolic diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.
The results showed that people who are living with excess weight, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases, such as a stroke, are more likely to develop cancer, particularly of the bowel, breast, and liver. Scientists said that preventing obesity could lead to a greater reduction in cancer risk among people who also have cardiovascular diseases than among the general population.
Being overweight can also cause other issues such as heart disease (Getty Images)Dr Helen Corker, of the World Cancer Research Fund, said: "We already know that obesity is an important risk factor for cancer. But these striking findings show that the risk differs depending on whether people also have cardiovascular disease. Maintaining a healthy weight can offer even greater benefits for particular groups."
In the UK, obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer - and keeping a healthy weight reduces the risk of developing the condition. Over the years, researchers have looked at the link between obesity and cancer, and found that the risk increases the more weight is gained and the longer it is held for.
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Extra fat is active and can send out signals to the rest of your body, telling cells to divide more often, which can lead to cancer. The signals released by fat cells can, for example, affect growth hormones, as well as inflammation and sex hormones.
While this does not mean that everybody who is overweight will develop cancer, it is important to be aware that the risk is higher, explains Cancer Research UK. These are the 13 different types of cancer being overweight and obese can cause:
- Breast and bowel (two of the most common cancer types)
- Pancreatic, oesophageal and gallbladder (three of the hardest to treat cancers)
- Womb and ovarian
- Kidney, liver and upper stomach
- Myeloma (a type of blood cancer)
- Meningioma (a type of brain tumour)
- Thyroid
Scientists said in BMC Medicine : "A high BMI, a surrogate measure of body fatness, is an established risk factor for at least 13 types of cancer, including adenocarcinoma of the breast (postmenopausal women), colorectal, gallbladder, kidney, liver, meningioma, multiple myeloma, oesophageal, ovarian, pancreatic, thyroid, gastric cardia (upper stomach), and corpus uteri. These cancers alone (described hereafter as obesity-related cancers) comprise approximately 37% of the total global burden of cancer and at present impact more on populations in high-income countries, where 67% of all obesity-related cancers are diagnosed."
Obesity is also a risk factor for other conditions such as type 2 diabetes, raised blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and cancer. During the European Congress on Obesity in the Netherlands last year, scientists said drinking limits should be slashed for overweight people because alcohol causes them greater harm.
Public health bosses have been told drinking guidelines should be lowered for the overweight as new research shows they are at three times greater risk of developing alcohol-related cancers. Data on nearly 400,000 UK adults found even moderate drinkers who consumed booze within UK safe guidelines were at 53% greater risk if they were carrying too much weight.
This compared to a 19% increased cancer risk of drinking within guidelines for those of healthy weight. Being overweight or obese also made drinkers more likely to develop liver disease, a separate study found.
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