Cancer incidence and mortality in relation to body mass index

Research, BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.39367.495995.AE (published 6 November 2007)
 

What is already known on this topic

• Increased body mass index is known to increase the risk of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer in women
• Body mass index has also been associated with the risk of other, rarer, cancers, but the findings are not yet conclusive

What this study adds

• High body mass index in women may increase the risk of multiple myeloma, leukaemia, pancreatic cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and ovarian cancer
• Menopausal status seems to affect the relation between body mass index and risk of breast cancer, endometrial cancer, and colorectal cancer
• Among postmenopausal women in the UK, 5% of all cancers (about 6000 annually) are attributable to women being overweight or obese
• Around half of all cases of endometrial cancer and adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus in postmenopausal UK women are attributable to women being overweight or obese