A Swedish study of more than 600,000 patients (250,000 men and just under 380,000 women) found that gaining weight as an adult increases the risk of cancer by up to five times: increased cancer risk – both overall and for many specific cancer types – was associated with heavier initial weight in early adulthood as well as weight gained during adulthood. Obesity can cause 13 different cancers and is thought to be linked to another eight.
The study participants were weighed an average of four times between the ages of 17 and 60; their cancer diagnoses were tracked until 2023. The study found:
- Men who became obese before the age of 30 had a five times higher risk of liver cancer, double the risk of pancreatic cancer and kidney cancer, and a 58% increased risk of colon cancer than those who remained slim. Women who developed obesity before the age of 30 were at a four-and-a-half times increased risk of endometrial cancer, a 67% higher risk of pancreatic cancer, double the risk of kidney cancer and a 76% increased risk of meningioma than those who never became obese.
- For those who put on weight later in life, there were gender differences. For women, putting weight on after the age of 30 was strongly associated with increased relative risks of endometrial cancer, postmenopausal breast cancer and meningioma – cancers for which sex hormones are considered a primary causative factor. Colon cancer was also strongly linked to female weight changes.
- Among men, the associations with obesity-related cancers were instead stronger for weight gains below the age of 45, most clearly for oesophageal and liver cancer. This was perhaps because earlier weight gain allows more time for biological processes such as inflammation and raised insulin levels to act on susceptible tissues.
- Those who put on the most weight (an average of 32kg [5 stone]) were 7% more likely to develop cancer than those who gained the least – an average of 8kg. Men who gained the most weight were nearly three times more likely to develop liver cancer and more than twice as likely to develop oesophageal cancer than those who put on the least.
- They also had three times the risk of pituitary tumours and a more than 50% increased risk of renal cell carcinoma, gastric cardia and colon cancers.
- Women who gained the most weight had nearly four times the risk of endometrial cancer and double the risk of pituitary tumours as well as a significantly higher risk of renal cell carcinoma (91%), postmenopausal breast cancer (42%), meningioma (32%) and colon cancers (31%).
If you or a loved one were injured (or worse) as a result of the misdiagnosis of cancer in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your cancer malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a cancer medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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