Research

Hormonal

Intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) aimed at weight loss reduces the incidence of obesity-related cancers by 16% in adults with type 2 diabetes, although the result was not statistically significant due to insufficient statistical power.

For individuals with type 2 diabetes and obesity, engaging in a structured weight loss program involving calorie restriction (1,200-1,800 kcal/day), moderate exercise (175 mins/week), and behavioral counseling can significantly lower the risk of developing obesity-related cancers. While the statistical evidence in this specific trial was borderline due to sample size, the consistent trend toward reduced risk suggests that maintaining a healthy weight is a critical cancer prevention strategy for this population.

GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
An ILI aimed at weight loss lowered incidence of obesity-related cancers by 16% in adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes. The study sample size likely lacked power to determine effect sizes of this magnitude and smaller.
Hsin‐Chieh Yeh et al. · Obesity · 2020

Why this rating

High-quality randomized controlled trial design with long follow-up (median 11 years), but limited by lack of statistical significance and potential misclassification of cancer sites.

Source

Intensive Weight Loss Intervention and Cancer Risk in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: Analysis of the Look AHEAD Randomized Clinical Trial

Hsin‐Chieh Yeh et al. · Obesity · 2020

DOI 10.1002/oby.22936

rct · n=4859Cited 80×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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