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November 28, 2017

Excessive Weight Gain, Obesity, and Cancer: Opportunities for Clinical Intervention

Author Affiliations
  • 1Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
  • 2Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC
JAMA. 2017;318(20):1975-1976. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.15519

Even though the effects of overweight and obesity on diabetes, cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality, and other health outcomes are widely known, there is less awareness that overweight, obesity, and weight gain are associated with an increased risk of certain cancers. A recent review of more than 1000 studies concluded that sufficient evidence existed to link weight gain, overweight, and obesity with 13 cancers, including adenocarcinoma of the esophagus; cancers of the gastric cardia, colon and rectum, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, corpus uteri, ovary, kidney, and thyroid; postmenopausal female breast cancer; meningioma; and multiple myeloma.1 An 18-year follow-up of almost 93 000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study revealed a dose-response association of weight gain and obesity with several cancers.2

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