Cancer Risk From Being Overweight At Least Double Previous Estimates

The team conducted genetic analyses on eight common obesity-related cancer types. They compared the genetic Mendelian randomization estimates of the association between body mass index (BMI) and cancer risk with the estimates from classical cohort studies. Excess body fatness is already recognized as an important cause of cancer and has been estimated to account for six percent of all cancers in high-income countries. According to the results of this new analysis, the proportion of cancers attributable to overweight and obesity is, in fact, substantially higher. Richard Martin, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Bristol Medical School, said: “The importance of these analyses is that they suggest that the effect of being overweight on cancer risk has been underestimated in the past and that obesity plays an even more important role in cancer than previously suggested.” Reference: “What can Mendelian randomization tell us about causes of cancer?” by Daniela Mariosa, Robert Carreras-Torres, Richard M Martin, Mattias Johansson and Paul Brennan, 25 July 2019, International Journal of Epidemiology.DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyz151