10 Cancer That are Linked with Obesity

7. Meningioma

Meningioma is the name of the tumor which forms on the membrane that covers the brain and the spinal cord, inside the skull. 90% of them are benign and are often slow-growing but in Obese people, it has been found that the risk is about 50 % more than non-obese people and in overweight people, the risk is about 20 %.

This often does not show any symptoms and hardly requires any treatment. Women run the risk of suffering from this more than men. This is often caused by genetic disorders and exposure to radiation. Cancerous Meningioma often runs the risk of spreading to the lungs as their growth is fast.

8. Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer usually occurs in the tissues surrounding the pancreas in the lower part of the stomach. The tumors can either be cancerous or non-cancerous in nature.

The most common type of pancreatic cancer is Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma which occurs in the cells that are present in the lining which carries digestive enzymes out of the pancreas.

It usually does not show any symptom until it has spread to the other parts of the body as a result of which it is often not cured at the early stage. People with Obesity run the risk of suffering from this cancer 1.5 times more than people with normal body weight.

9. Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer refers to cancer that occurs in the colon or in the rectum. It can be called Colon cancer or Rectal cancer depending on the area where it occurs. The colon and Rectal make up the Gastrointestinal System and cancer usually starts with polyps in either of the places.

There are three types of polyps namely Adenomatous polyps, Hyperplastic polyps and inflammatory polyps, Sessile serrated polyps (SSP), and traditional serrated adenomas (TSA).

Out of the three, the third runs the highest risk of colorectal cancer. One’s risk of having this cancer increases if a polyp is more than 1 cm,  if there are more types of polyps than the aforementioned ones and if Dysplasia is seen in the polyp after it has been removed from the body. People who are slightly obese run the risk of contracting this cancer more than people of normal body weight.

10. Gallbladder Cancer

Gallbladder Cancer usually is signified by abnormal cell growth in the gallbladder. It usually is very uncommon and if found in the body early, chances are it can be cured. However, this type of cancer is discovered in the body quite late as a result of which the cure is quite poor and the chances of survival are quite less.

The symptoms usually consist of abnormal pain and bloating in the abdomen and weight loss. Obese people run the risk of having this cancer by at least 20% more than normally weighed people.

Does losing weight reduce the Risk of Cancer?

Since the data are collected through large cohort cases, they are difficult to interpret and it is difficult to say how the loss of effect reduces the risk of cancer in obese people because their body differs from the way lean people’s bodies work.

Though many studies have explored the association of cancer with obesity, fewer studies have looked into how the weight loss of obese people affects their risk of suffering from cancer. Those who have delved into this, have found that reduction in body weight significantly lowers the chances of developing breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colon, and prostate cancer.

These studies, however, failed to identify the reason behind the weight loss, was it intentional or unintentional?  The studies were usually done on people who had undergone bariatric surgery (surgery usually performed on the stomach or intestine to induce the loss of excess body weight).

These people who have performed the surgery run lower risks of suffering from cancer than people who have not performed this surgery. This study is contradicted if one considers the results achieved by the Women’s Health Initiative as they found that women with reduced weight do not run less risk of suffering from breast cancer as a 5% increase in the bodyweight of a woman can induce breast cancer.