(HealthDay News) — Patients who are overweight or obese in early, middle, or late adulthood may have an increased risk of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) and GI cancer risk in 135,161 patients who were 55 to 78 years of age.
At a median follow-up of 14.9 years, 5088 patients were diagnosed with GI cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC; 55.1%), pancreatic cancer (21.1%), gastric cancer (9.5%), esophageal cancer (7.4%), and liver cancer (6.8%).
Continue Reading
Overall, there was an increased risk of GI cancers in patients who were overweight in early adulthood (hazard ratio [HR], 1.17; 95% CI, 1.08-1.27), middle adulthood (HR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.11-1.26), or later adulthood (HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.09-1.25).
Similarly, there was an increased risk of GI cancers in patients who were obese in early adulthood (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.08-1.59), middle adulthood (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.37-1.64), and later adulthood (HR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.27-1.49).
There was an increased risk of CRC for patients who were overweight in early adulthood (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.10-1.37), middle adulthood (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.13-1.34), and later adulthood (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.10-1.32).
An increased risk of CRC among obese patients was only seen for those who were obese in middle adulthood (HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.38-1.75) and later adulthood (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.25-1.54).
There was an increased risk of non-colorectal GI cancers in patients who were obese in early adulthood (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.04-1.80), middle adulthood (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.27-1.65), and later adulthood (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.21-1.53).
An increased risk of non-colorectal GI cancers among overweight patients was only seen in patients who were overweight in middle adulthood (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24) and later adulthood (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24).
The researchers noted that there was a 2% to 4% increased risk of both CRC and non-colorectal GI cancers with each 1-unit increase in BMI across all time points.
“These findings suggest that overweight and obese BMI over time may increase one’s risk of gastrointestinal cancer,” the researchers wrote. “The results of the current study prompt further exploration into the mechanistic role of obese BMI in carcinogenesis.”
