BMJ  2007;335:1107-1108 (1 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.39384.472072.80 (published 6 November 2007)

Editorials

Obesity and cancer

Substantial evidence supports the link between increasing adiposity and a higher risk of many cancers

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Obesity is an important cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia. The adverse metabolic effects of excess body fat accelerate the development of atheroma and increase the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and early death. The association between adiposity and cancer, however, is less well known. In this week's BMJ, Reeves and colleagues report a large prospective cohort study from the United Kingdom—the million women study—which assesses the association between body mass index (BMI) and cancer incidence and mortality.1

In 2002, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) convened an expert panel—which would draw on epidemiological, clinical, and experimental data—to evaluate the link between weight and cancer.2 It concluded that some colon cancers, postmenopausal breast cancers, endometrial cancers, kidney cancers, and adenocarcinomas of the oesophagus could be prevented by avoiding weight gain. Since the IARC report, many observational studies have investigated the association between adiposity and . . . [Full text of this article]

Eugenia E Calle, managing director of analytic epidemiology

American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA

jeanne.calle@cancer.org


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Relevant Article

Cancer incidence and mortality in relation to body mass index in the Million Women Study: cohort study
Gillian K Reeves, Kirstin Pirie, Valerie Beral, Jane Green, Elizabeth Spencer, Diana Bull Million Women Study Collaboration
BMJ 2007 335: 1134. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Griggs, J. J., Sabel, M. S. (2008). Obesity and Cancer Treatment: Weighing the Evidence. JCO 26: 4060-4062 [Full text]  
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