Research
Energy balance
Bariatric surgery significantly reduces the incidence of overall cancer and obesity-related cancers, with a more pronounced effect in women.
Bariatric surgery is a highly effective intervention for reducing cancer risk in people with severe obesity, particularly women. It offers a significant reduction in overall and obesity-related cancers compared to non-surgical controls.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
According to a systematic review, bariatric surgery was reported to be associated with a reduction in the incidence of overall cancer (pooled odds ratio (POR) = 0.72: 95% CI 0.59–0.87) and in the incidence of obesity-related cancers (POR = 0.55: 95% CI 0.31–0.96). The cancer-protective effect of bariatric surgery seems to be more pronounced in women than in men, and most marked for a reduction in breast cancer risk.
Why this rating
Based on systematic reviews of non-randomized comparisons; strong signal but potential selection bias.
Source
Cancer prevention through weight control—where are we in 2020?
Annie S. Anderson et al. · British Journal of Cancer · 2020
DOI 10.1038/s41416-020-01154-3
narrative_reviewCited 34×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
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Related findings · Energy balance
- Achieving a total body weight loss of 10-15% (or >10-15 kg) through Total Diet Replacement (TDR) induces remission of Type 2 Diabetes in individuals with short-duration disease.Strong
- Bariatric surgery is superior to medical management alone for inducing significant long-term weight loss, remission of type 2 diabetes, and reduction in mortality for patients with BMI ≥ 40 or ≥ 35 with comorbidities.Strong
- Achieving type 2 diabetes remission requires significant weight loss (≥15 kg) via major caloric restriction, independent of macronutrient composition.Strong
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