Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Obesity and Cancer Risk: Recent Review and Evidence

  • Published:
Current Oncology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing worldwide, and the evidence base for a link between obesity and cancer is growing. In the United States, approximately 85,000 new cancer cases per year are related to obesity. Recent research has found that as the body mass index increases by 5 kg/m2, cancer mortality increases by 10%. Additionally, studies of patients who have had bariatric surgery for weight loss report reductions in cancer incidence and mortality, particularly for women. The goal of this review is to provide an update of recent research, with a focus on epidemiologic studies on the link between obesity and cancer. In addition, we will briefly review hypothesized mechanisms underlying the relationship between obesity and cancer. High priorities for future research involve additional work on the underlying mechanisms, and trials to examine the effect of lifestyle behavior change and weight loss interventions on cancer and intermediate biomarkers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. Kelly T, Yang W, Chen CS, Reynolds K, He J: Global burden of obesity in 2005 and projections to 2030. Int J Obes (Lond) 2008, 32:1431-1437.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Jia H, Lubetkin EI: Obesity-Related Quality-Adjusted Life Years Lost in the U.S. from 1993 to 2008. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2010, 39:220-227.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Calle 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, 348:1625-1638.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Vainio H, Bianchini F (Eds.): IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevent--Weight Control and Physical Activity. Lyon, France: IARC Press; 2002.

  5. World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research: Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. Washington DC: AICR; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Calle EE, Thun MJ: Obesity and cancer. Oncogene 2004, 23:6365-6378.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. •• Renehan AG, Tyson M, Egger M, Heller RF, Zwahlen M: Body-mass index and incidence of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies. Lancet 2008, 371:569-578. This is a meta-analysis of 221 datasets (282,137 incident cases) from prospective observational studies that extended beyond the 2007 WCRF findings. As BMI increased by 5 kg/m 2 , strong associations for esophageal carcinoma (RR = 1.52 for men, 1.51 for women) and renal cancer (RR = 1.33 for men, 1.34 for women) in both men and women were observed. Weak, but positive associations were found for leukemia, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in both men and women.

  8. Polednak AP: Estimating the number of U.S. incident cancers attributable to obesity and the impact on temporal trends in incidence rates for obesity-related cancers. Cancer Detect Prev 2008, 32:190-199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Renehan AG, Soerjomataram I, Tyson M, et al.: Incident cancer burden attributable to excess body mass index in 30 European countries. Int J Cancer 2010, 126:692-702.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. • Prospective Studies Collaboration: Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900 000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 Prospective studies. Lancet 2009, 373:1083-1096. These are updated results on mortality and increased BMI, which include cancer mortality. The data came from 57 prospective studies, which includes approximately 900,000 adults. As BMI increased by 5 kg/m 2 , it was associated with a ~ 30% increase of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.27–1.32). Specifically for cancer, all-cancer mortality indicated a 10% increase (HR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.06–1.15) as BMI increases by 5 kg/m 2.

  11. Picot J, Jones J, Colquitt JL, et al.: The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of bariatric (weight loss) surgery for obesity: a systematic review and economic evaluation. Health Technol Assess 2009, 13:1-190, 215-357, iii-iv.

    Google Scholar 

  12. •• Sjöström L, Gummesson A, Sjöström CD, et al.: Effects of bariatric surgery on cancer incidence in obese patients in Sweden (Swedish Obese Subjects Study): a prospective, controlled intervention trial. The Lancet Oncology 2009, 10:653-662. This is a prospective Swedish study of cancer incidence in 2010 obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery compared to 2037 matched obese controls who received conventional weight loss treatment. During the ~ 11-year average follow-up, 117 surgery patients and 169 controls developed a new cancer (HR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.53–0.85, P = 0.0009).

  13. • Adams TD, Stroup AM, Gress RE, et al.: Cancer incidence and mortality after gastric bypass surgery. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2009, 17:796-802. This is a study of cancer incidence and mortality in 6596 patients who had gastric bypass surgery compared to 9442 severely obese controls from the state’s driver’s license records. With an average follow-up time of 12.45 years, the surgery group had a lower incidence of regional or distant-stage cancer, and lower cancer mortality than controls.

  14. Trentham-Dietz A, Nichols HB, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA: Weight change and risk of endometrial cancer. Int J Epidemiol 2006, 35:151-158.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Eliassen AH, Colditz GA, Rosner B, et al.: Adult weight change and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. JAMA 2006, 296:193-201.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Kawai M, Minami Y, Kuriyama S, et al.: Adiposity, adult weight change and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal Japanese women: the Miyagi Cohort Study. Br J Cancer 2010.

  17. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NIoH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults: The Evidence Report (NIH Publication No. 98-4083); 1998:262.

  18. Brown T, Avenell A, Edmunds LD, et al.: Systematic review of long-term lifestyle interventions to prevent weight gain and morbidity in adults. Obes Rev 2009, 10:627-638.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Sarwer DB, von Sydow Green A, Vetter ML, Wadden TA: Behavior therapy for obesity: where are we now? Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes 2009, 16:347-352.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. McTigue KM, Harris R, Hemphill B, et al.: Screening and interventions for obesity in adults: summary of the evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med 2003, 139:933-949.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. • Roberts DL, Dive C, Renehan AG: Biological mechanisms linking obesity and cancer risk: new perspectives. Annu Rev Med 2010, 61:301-316. This provides a review on well-studied biological mechanisms for obesity and cancer, and provides additional hypotheses and possible mechanisms that may need to be further examined.

  22. •• Nock NL, Berger NA: Obesity and Cancer: Overview of Mechanisms. In Cancer and Energy Balance, Epidemiology and Overview. Edited by Berger NA. New York: Springer; 2010: 129-179. This provides a comprehensive summary of all plausible biological mechanisms that explained the positive association between obesity and various cancers.

  23. Calle EE, Kaaks R: Overweight, obesity and cancer: epidemiological evidence and proposed mechanisms. Nat Rev Cancer 2004, 4:579-591.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Sridhar SS, Goodwin PJ: Insulin-insulin-like growth factor axis and colon cancer. J Clin Oncol 2009, 27:165-167.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Rowlands MA, Gunnell D, Harris R, et al.: Circulating insulin-like growth factor peptides and prostate cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cancer 2009, 124:2416-2429.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. The Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer Collaborative Group: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), IGF binding protein 3 (IGFBP3), and breast cancer risk: pooled individual data analysis of 17 prospective studies. The Lancet Oncology 2010, 11:530-542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Major JM, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, Pollak MN, et al.: Insulin-like growth factors and liver cancer risk in male smokers. Br J Cancer 2010, 103:1089-1092.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Gu F, Schumacher FR, Canzian F, et al.: Eighteen Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) pathway genes, circulating levels of IGF-1 and its binding protein (IGFBP-3), and risk of prostate and breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010, In Press, Uncorrected Proof. Epub 2010 Sept 03.

  29. van Kruijsdijk RC, van der Wall E, Visseren FL: Obesity and cancer: the role of dysfunctional adipose tissue. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009, 18:2569-2578.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Birmingham JM, Busik JV, Hansen-Smith FM, Fenton JI: Novel mechanism for obesity-induced colon cancer progression. Carcinogenesis 2009, 30:690-697.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Hursting SD, Berger NA: Energy balance, host-related factors, and cancer progression. J Clin Oncol 2010, 28:4058-4065.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Zhang Y, Daquinag A, Traktuev DO, et al.: White adipose tissue cells are recruited by experimental tumors and promote cancer progression in mouse models. Cancer Res 2009, 69:5259-5266.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Erlinger TP, Platz EA, Rifai N, Helzlsouer KJ: C-reactive protein and the risk of incident colorectal cancer. JAMA 2004, 291:585-590.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Zhang SM, Buring JE, Lee IM, et al.: C-reactive protein levels are not associated with increased risk for colorectal cancer in women. Ann Intern Med 2005, 142:425-432.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Greten FR, Eckmann L, Greten TF, et al.: IKK[beta] Links Inflammation and Tumorigenesis in a Mouse Model of Colitis-Associated Cancer. Cell 2004, 118:285-296.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Reuter S, Gupta SC, Chaturvedi MM, Aggarwal BB: Oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer: How are they linked? Free Radical Biology and Medicine 2010, In Press, Uncorrected Proof. Epub 2010 Sept 06.

  37. Gago-Dominguez M, Castelao JE, Yuan JM, et al.: Lipid peroxidation: a novel and unifying concept of the etiology of renal cell carcinoma (United States). Cancer Causes Control 2002, 13:287-293.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Maria Chang, a doctoral student, is supported in part by a cancer prevention fellowship that is supported by the National Cancer Institute grant R25E CA56452, Shine Chang, Principal Investigator.

Disclosure

No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen Basen-Engquist.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Basen-Engquist, K., Chang, M. Obesity and Cancer Risk: Recent Review and Evidence. Curr Oncol Rep 13, 71–76 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-010-0139-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-010-0139-7

Keywords

Navigation