Research

Hormonal

Adult weight gain is associated with a statistically significant increased risk of postmenopausal breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers, as well as colon and kidney cancers, with risk increasing by approximately 6-39% per 5 kg of weight gain.

Avoiding adult weight gain is a proven strategy to reduce the risk of several cancers, particularly in postmenopausal women and men. Focus on maintaining a stable weight from early adulthood onwards, as even modest gains (5 kg) are linked to higher risks for breast, endometrial, ovarian, colon, and kidney cancers. This is especially important for postmenopausal women not using hormone replacement therapy.

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For each 5 kg increase in adult weight gain, the summary relative risk was 1.11 (95% CI = 1.08 to 1.13) for postmenopausal breast cancer among no- or low-hormone replacement therapy (HRT) users, 1.39 (95% CI = 1.29 to 1.49) and 1.09 (95% CI = 1.02 to 1.16) for postmenopausal endometrial cancer among HRT nonusers and users, respectively, 1.13 (95% CI = 1.03 to 1.23) for postmenopausal ovarian cancer among no or low HRT users, 1.09 (95% CI = 1.04 to 1.13) for colon cancer in men. The relative risk of kidney cancer comparing highest and lowest level of adult weight gain was 1.42 (95% CI = 1.11 to 1.81).
NaNa Keum et al. · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2015

Why this rating

Based on a dose-response meta-analysis of 50 prospective observational studies.

Source

Adult Weight Gain and Adiposity-Related Cancers: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Observational Studies

NaNa Keum et al. · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2015

DOI 10.1093/jnci/djv088

Meta-analysis · 50 studiesCited 404×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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