Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Aug 9;3(4):pkz054.
doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkz054. eCollection 2019 Dec.

Intentional Weight Loss and Obesity-Related Cancer Risk

Juhua Luo  1 , Michael Hendryx  2 , JoAnn E Manson  3 , Jane C Figueiredo  4 , Erin S LeBlanc  5 , Wendy Barrington  6 , Thomas E Rohan  7 , Barbara V Howard  8 , Kerryn Reding  9 , Gloria Yf Ho  10 , David O Garcia  11 , Rowan T Chlebowski  12
Affiliations

Intentional Weight Loss and Obesity-Related Cancer Risk

Juhua Luo et al. JNCI Cancer Spectr. .

Abstract

Background: Epidemiologic studies regarding weight loss and subsequent cancer risk are sparse. The study aim was to evaluate the association between weight change by intentionality and obesity-related cancer incidence in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. Eleven cancers were considered obesity related: breast, ovary, endometrium, colon and rectum, esophagus, kidney, liver, multiple myeloma, pancreas, stomach, and thyroid.

Methods: Postmenopausal women (n = 58 667) aged 50-79 years had body weight and waist circumference (WC) measured at baseline and year 3. Weight or WC change was categorized as stable (change < ±5%), loss (≥5%), and gain (≥5%). Self-report at year 3 characterized weight loss as intentional or unintentional. During the subsequent 12 years (mean) of follow-up, 6033 incident obesity-related cancers were identified. Relationships were evaluated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Results: Compared to women with stable weight, women with intentional weight loss had lower obesity-related cancer risk (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.80 to 0.98). A similar result was observed for intentional WC reduction (HR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.80 to 0.96). Among all cancers, intentional weight loss was most strongly associated with endometrial cancer (HR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.42 to 0.88). Intentional WC loss was also associated with lower colorectal cancer risk (HR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.63 to 0.99). Unintentional weight loss or weight gain was not associated with overall obesity-related cancer risk.

Conclusion: Intentional weight or WC loss in postmenopausal women was associated with lower risk of obesity-related cancer. These findings suggest that postmenopausal women who intentionally lose weight can reduce their obesity-related cancer risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A) Spine analysis for weight loss and obesity-related cancer risk. P for non-linear test of percentage of weight change = 0.2. P for overall effect of percentage of weight change =0.03. B) Spine analysis for waist circumference loss and obesity-related cancer risk. P for nonlinear test of percentage of waist circumference change = 0.13. P for overall effect of percentage of waist circumference change =0.04. red solid = estimated curve; blue dashed lines = confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Hales C, Carroll M, Fryar C, et al. Prevalence of obesity among adults and youth: United States, 2015–2016. Hyattsville, MD: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics; 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db288.pdf. Accessed January 10, 2019.
    1. Lauby-Secretan B, Scoccianti C, Loomis D, et al. Body fatness and cancer–viewpoint of the IARC Working Group. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(8):794–798. - PMC - PubMed
    1. LeBlanc ES, Patnode CD, Webber EM, et al. Behavioral and pharmacotherapy weight loss interventions to prevent obesity-related morbidity and mortality in adults updated evidence report and systematic review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA. 2018;320(11):1172–1191. - PubMed
    1. Tee MC, Cao Y, Warnock GL, et al. Effect of bariatric surgery on oncologic outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Surg Endosc. 2013;27(12):4449–4456. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ward KK, Roncancio AM, Shah NR, et al. Bariatric surgery decreases the risk of uterine malignancy. Gynecol Oncol. 2014;133(1):63–66. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources