Why do people with more body weight appear to have better bowel cancer outcomes?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-08-15 01:00

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A link between higher body weight and better survival following bowel cancer diagnosis is likely a result of weight loss caused by the disease, according to international researchers. The team say there is evidence that people who are overweight may have slightly better chances of surviving bowel cancer, and they wanted to know why. The researchers used data on 5521 people diagnosed with colorectal cancer, looking at whether they had lost weight in the years leading up to their diagnosis and their survival in the years after. The researchers say being overweight, but not obese, was linked to a slightly higher survival rate. However, losing more than 10% of body weight in the years leading up to diagnosis was linked to a worse survival rate. The researchers say taking this into account explained the link between excess weight and survival, suggesting it is mostly attributable to bowel cancer itself causing patients to lose weight before their diagnosis.