Research
Hormonal
Obesity is a risk factor for several cancers, including colon, pancreas, kidney, prostate, breast, and endometrium, potentially through mechanisms involving chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and adipocytokine production.
Keeping a healthy weight can help reduce the risk of several types of cancer. This is achieved through a combination of healthy eating, regular physical activity, and maintaining a healthy body composition.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Some works, however, have confirmed that obesity may be associated with mortality from a number of malignancies, including cancers of the colon, pancreas, kidney, prostate, breast, and endometrium.
Why this rating
Based on epidemiological studies and pathophysiological descriptions, though specific causal mechanisms for all cancers are noted as 'inconsistent'.
Source
Overweight and obesity: a review of their relationship to metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in South America
Laura Rosana Aballay et al. · Nutrition Reviews · 2013
DOI 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2012.00533.x
narrative_review · n=6000Cited 188×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Obesity, particularly abdominal-visceral obesity, is a primary risk factor for metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease through mechanisms involving insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and dyslipidemia.Strong
- Regular moderate-to-intense physical activity (>1,500 METs) reduces the risk of obesity by 40–65% and attenuates cardiovascular risk factors through anti-inflammatory effects and increased nitric oxide production.Good
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