Weight gain as adult increases cancer risk by up to five times, research shows

"Researchers at Lund University in Sweden analysed weight and cancer incidence data from more than 600,000 men and women and found there was no safe age to get heavier. The study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, measured the weight of more than 250,000 men and just under 380,000 women an average of four times between the ages of 17 and 60. It also tracked their cancer diagnoses until 2023."

"The authors found that increased cancer risk both overall and for many specific cancer types was associated with heavier initial weight in early adulthood as well as weight gained during adulthood. The higher the starting weight and the greater the weight gain, the higher the cancer risk tended to be. Men who became obese before the age of 30 had a five times higher risk of liver cancer, double the risk of pancreatic cancer and kidney cancer, and a 58% increased risk of colon cancer than those who remained slim."

"Women who developed obesity before the age of 30 were at a four-and-a-half times increased risk of endometrial cancer, a 67% higher risk of pancreatic cancer, double the risk of kidney cancer and a 76% increased risk of meningioma than those who never became obese. For those who put on weight later in life, there were gender differences. For women, putting weight on after the age of 30 was strongly associated with increased relative risks of endometrial cancer, postmenopausal breast cancer and meningioma cancers for which sex hormones are considered a primary causative factor."

Adult weight gain increases cancer risk, with obesity linked to many cancer types. Analysis of weight and cancer incidence data from more than 600,000 men and women found increased risk associated with heavier initial weight in early adulthood and with weight gained during adulthood. Cancer diagnoses were tracked until 2023. Higher starting weight and greater weight gain corresponded to higher cancer risk across overall outcomes and many specific cancers. Men who became obese before age 30 had markedly higher risks of liver, pancreatic, kidney, and colon cancers. Women who developed obesity before age 30 had substantially higher risks of endometrial, pancreatic, kidney, and meningioma cancers. Weight gain after age 30 showed gender-specific associations, including hormone-related cancers in women.

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