Dr. Deep Goel, Senior Director, Consultant Robotic Surgeon, Department of Surgical Gastro Onco, Bariatric & Advance Minimal Access Surgery, BLK Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi
A massive study5 of 52.4 lakh patients data found that obesity is associated with 10 different cancers: Uterus (with 40.8% of yearly new cases linked to obesity), Gallbladder (20.3%), Kidney (16.6%), Liver (15.6%), Colon (11.1%), Cervix (7.5%), Ovaries (7.3%), Blood cancer (6.3%), Postmenopausal Breast (5.1%), and Thyroid (1.9%).
The newer studies have found that three more cancers i.e., Food Pipe6, Pancreas7, and a type of Brain Cancer (Meningioma)8 too are linked with obesity9.
How Does Obesity Cause Cancer?
Too much body fat leads to chronic inflammation. This inflammation causes pancreas to produce more insulin. Extra fat cells also make extra oestrogen - another hormone. These extra hormones trigger body cells to divide more, and these new cells can result in cancerous tumours.
Escaping The Death Trap
The good news is that the enhanced cancer risk posed by obesity can be reduced & managed by treating the root cause i.e. obesity
The first step is to understand what is obesity. Obesity is not a cosmetic condition as commonly perceived. Its a complex, progressive and multifactorial disease that needs expert medical help to treat, just like cancer.
Obesity is determined by BMI (Body Mass Index), which measures body weight in relation to height.
World Health Organization (WHO) considers a BMI more than 30 as Class 1 obesity10. BMI above 35 is Class II- serious obesity, and BMI above 40 is class III- severe obesity.11.
Most patients with obesity who try diet and exercise, enjoy initial success, and then may experience weight regain. This may not be due to their lack of willpower or the wrong diet, but due to hormonal imbalance and genetic predisposition.
There is documented observation that for an obesity patient with a BMI greater than 35, the chances of reaching a normal body weight for a lasting period of time with diet and exercise alone is less than 1%12.
If you are fighting class II obesity and unable to reverse it, minimally invasive bariatric weight-loss surgery might be an option. In fact International Diabetic Federation guidelines recommend surgery for uncontrolled diabetes with good medical management.
Does bariatric weight-loss surgery also lower the cancer risk?
A 12-year follow-up study that compared 6596 patients who underwent gastric bypass bariatric surgery with 9442 severe obesity patients who did not undergo bariatric surgery found that total cancer incidence in the bariatric surgery group was significantly lower compared to that of non-bariatric group13.
A 11-year follow-up study of 2010 bariatric surgery patients compared with 2037 obesity patients who didnt undergo bariatric surgery found that bariatric surgery group had reduced cancer incidence - particularly in women14.
Talk to the experts
According to experts during Covid times online consultation for obesity management have increased significantly.
Morbid obesity can be treated efficiently by bariatric surgery with lasting results along with significantly reducing cancer risk. The time to act against it is NOW!
Disclaimer: This article is sponsored by J&J in public interest. The views and opinions expressed in the article by participating doctors are based on their independent professional judgement. J&J (P) Ltd., BCCL and its group publications disclaim any liability for the accuracy or consequences flowing from adherence to their expert views.
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1De Pergola G, Silvestris F. Obesity as a major risk factor for cancer. J Obes. 2013;2013:291546. doi:10.1155/2013/291546
2Basen-Engquist K, Chang M. Obesity and cancer risk: recent review and evidence. Curr Oncol Rep. 2011;13(1):71-76. doi:10.1007/s11912-010-0139-7
3Calle EE, Rodriguez C, Walker-Thurmond K, Thun MJ. Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults. N Engl J Med. 2003 Apr 24;348(17):1625-38. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa021423. PMID: 12711737.
4Schmitz KH, Neuhouser ML, Agurs-Collins T, Zanetti KA, Cadmus-Bertram L, Dean LT, Drake BF. Impact of obesity on cancer survivorship and the potential relevance of race and ethnicity. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2013 Sep 18;105(18):1344-54. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djt223. Epub 2013 Aug 29. PMID: 23990667; PMCID: PMC3776266.
5Bhaskaran K, Douglas I, Forbes H, dos-Santos-Silva I, Leon DA, Smeeth L. Body-mass index and risk of 22 specific cancers: a population-based cohort study of 524 million UK adults. Lancet. 2014 Aug 30;384(9945):755-65. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60892-8. Epub 2014 Aug 13. PMID: 25129328; PMCID: PMC4151483.
6Long E, Beales IL. The role of obesity in oesophageal cancer development. Therap Adv Gastroenterol. 2014;7(6):247-268. doi:10.1177/1756283X14538689
7Xu M, Jung X, Hines OJ, Eibl G, Chen Y. Obesity and Pancreatic Cancer: Overview of Epidemiology and Potential Prevention by Weight Loss. Pancreas. 2018;47(2):158-162. doi:10.1097/MPA.0000000000000974
8Aghi MK, Eskandar EN, Carter BS, Curry WT Jr, Barker FG 2nd. Increased prevalence of obesity and obesity-related postoperative complications in male patients with meningiomas. Neurosurgery. 2007 Oct;61(4):754-60; discussion 760-1. doi: 10.1227/01.NEU.0000298903.63635.E3. PMID: 17986936.
9https://bit.ly/37G8xkt
10https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity#tab=tab_1
11 https://asmbs.org/patients/disease-of-obesity
12https://asmbs.org/patients/benefits-of-weight-loss-surgery?/patients/benefits-of-bariatric-surgery
Disclaimer: Content Produced by Dr. Deep Goel
See the original post here:
Do You Know - Excess Weight Can Increase The Risk Of Cancer? - Times of India
