Weight Gain & Cancer Risk Medical Author: Melissa Conrad
Stöppler, MD Medical Editor: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP,
FACR Excess weight is a known risk factor for many chronic
diseases, such as diabetesand heart disease. Obesityhas also
been linked an increased risk for developing some cancers. To
clarify the effects of weight gain on cancer risk, researchers
in 2007 conducted an analysis of many studies reported in
medical journals that describe 282,137 cases of cancer. The
researchers wanted to see if weight gain had an effect on the
risk for certain cancer types. In particular, the researchers
looked at the risk of cancer associated with a weight gain
corresponding to an increase of 5 kg/m2 in body mass index
(BMI). In terms of actual pounds gained, a man with a normal-
range BMI of 23 would need to gain 15 kg (33 lbs.) of weight,
while a woman with a BMI of 23 would need to gain 13 kg (28.6
lbs.) to correspond to an increase of 5 in the BMI. The results,
published in the Lancet in February 2008, revealed