Research
Hormonal
Obesity (excess body fatness) is a convincing risk factor for at least 13 different cancer sites, including endometrial, postmenopausal breast, colorectal, esophageal, renal, meningioma, pancreatic, gastric cardia, liver, multiple myeloma, ovarian, gallbladder, and thyroid cancers.
Maintain a healthy body weight to reduce cancer risk. Focus on sustainable lifestyle changes like balanced nutrition and regular activity rather than rapid weight loss, as avoiding weight gain is a viable preventive measure.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
Indeed, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) established that there is convincing evidence that excess body fatness... is associated with an increased risk of at least 13 different types of cancers
Why this rating
Classified as 'Strong' and 'Convincing' evidence by IARC and WCRF/AICR.
Source
Physical activity, obesity and sedentary behavior in cancer etiology: epidemiologic evidence and biologic mechanisms
Christine M. Friedenreich et al. · Molecular Oncology · 2020
DOI 10.1002/1878-0261.12772
narrative_reviewCited 653×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Higher levels of physical activity reduce the risk of six specific cancer sites (bladder, breast, colon, endometrial, esophageal adenocarcinoma, gastric cardia) with strong evidence, while moderate evidence supports inverse associations with lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and renal cancers.Strong
- High levels of sedentary behavior independently increase the risk of colon, endometrial, and lung cancers, regardless of physical activity levels.Good
- Biologic mechanisms linking physical activity, sedentary behavior, and obesity to cancer risk include effects on endogenous insulin sensitivity, chronic sex steroids, metabolic hormones, and inflammation.Good
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