Sweden's Lund University Study: Adult Obesity Can Raise Cancer Risk Fourfold
The Guardian reported on May 27 that a study by researchers at Sweden's Lund University, involving more than 600,000 patients, found that weight gain in adulthood can raise the risk of cancer fourfold.
Researchers took weight measurements of the subjects an average of four times between the ages of 17 and 60; the subjects included more than 250,000 men and nearly 380,000 women. The study also tracked their cancer diagnoses through 2023.
The report the researchers presented at the European Obesity Summit in Istanbul showed that the increased cancer risk—both overall and for a number of specific cancers—was related both to a higher initial weight in early adulthood and to weight gain during adulthood.
Men who were obese before age 30 had a fivefold risk of liver cancer compared with those of normal weight, twice the risk of pancreatic and kidney cancer, and a 58% increase in the risk of colon cancer. Women who were obese before age 30 had a four-and-a-half-fold risk of endometrial cancer, a 67% increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer, twice the risk of kidney cancer, and a 76% increase in the risk of meningioma.
Those who gained the most weight—an average of 32 kg—had a 7% higher cancer risk than those who gained the least—an average of 8 kg. Compared with those who gained the least weight, the men who gained the most had nearly a threefold higher risk of liver cancer and more than a twofold higher risk of esophageal cancer. The women who gained the most weight had nearly a fourfold risk of endometrial cancer compared with those who gained the least, and also a significantly higher risk of other cancers such as renal cell carcinoma.
Obesity may lead to 13 different types of cancer and is thought to be associated with another eight; but little is known about how the amount of weight gain, and the stage of life at which it occurs, affects cancer risk.
Although these studies are enough to warn the world, controlling weight is no easy thing. Obesity rates in most countries around the world have risen sharply since World War II, which has also led to significant changes in the spectrum of human epidemics; the incidence of diabetes, cancer, and depression, all closely related to obesity, has risen.
Obesity is closely related to economic conditions and social circumstances; the better the economic conditions and the more stable the society, the higher the obesity rate tends to be. The medical community now regards obesity as a chronic metabolic disease, believing that it is not merely an enlarged body size but a long-term imbalance of the body. The approach to treatment is also shifting from “eat less and move more” to comprehensive management, exploring combined mechanisms to improve efficacy. More and more medical researchers are devoting themselves to the study of obesity, and we look forward to more breakthrough advances in this area.