Overweight and obesity linked to higher cancer rates

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-03-10 02:00

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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Overweight and obesity are linked with higher rates of cancer, according to international researchers who add this accounts for 10% of new cancer diagnoses annually in the US. The team reviewed the current evidence on obesity and cancer, and say that because obesity and overweight comes with excess fat tissue, which stores energy, this extra energy appears to stimulate cancer development. They also say things going wrong with fat tissue can lead to inflammation and altered hormone production, which can encourage the growth of hormone-sensitive cancers such as breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer. The risk can be reduced though, the team adds, as studies which looked at weight loss through surgery or GLP-1 drugs (such as Ozempic) found those who lost more than 10% of their body weight saw modest reductions in obesity-related cancer incidence.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Kansas Medical Center, USA, Emory University, USA

Funder: This work was supported in part through the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI) Cancer Center support grants P30 CA008748 and P30 CA168524. Dr Shen is supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Center atWeill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center grant CTSA UL1TR00457, the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation, Expedition Inspiration, and Kat’s Ribbon of Hope. Dr Brown is supported by NIH/NCI grants 1R21CA287340-01A1, 1R21EB035809-01A1, and P30CA168524; NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences grant 3P20GM144269-03S1; and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Dr Green is supported by Conquer Cancer and the American Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation. Dr Iyengar is supported by NIH/NCI grants R01CA235711 and R01CA241409, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the American Institute for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, Kat’s Ribbon of Hope, and the Alka Ohri Foundation. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Shen reported receipt of honoraria from MJH Life Sciences, Curio Science, SignifyMD, and Aptitude Health; consulting fees from AstraZeneca and GE Healthcare; and research funding (to institution) from Merck, Sermonix Pharmaceuticals, SynDevRx, and Novartis. Dr Brown reported receipt of grants from the National Institutes of Health and V Foundation for Cancer Research. Dr Green reported having a consulting/advisory role with Merck and Menarini-Stemline and receipt of research funding (to institution) from Aadi, Lilly, Merio BioPharma, Main Street Health, Mission Health, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr Iyengar reported receipt of consulting fees from Novartis, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Gilead, Genentech/Roche, Daichii Sankyo, Puma, SynDevRx, BD Life Sciences, Menarini-Stemline, TerSera Therapeutics, Bayer, Boehringer Oncology, and Seattle Genetics; equity ownership in Complement 1 and Roon; and research funding (to institution) from Novartis and SynDevRx.

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