Obesity linked to cancer death

According to a study that aimed to identify the link between obesity and cancer, excess body weight may contribute to about 20% of all cancer deaths in women and 14% of all cancer deaths in men. The American Cancer Society researchers conducted a study on 900,000 adults who were initially cancer free. By the end of the study, researchers had identified more than 57,000 cancer deaths. They looked at weight while controlling for factors such as smoking. Overweight and obese men and women had a higher risk of death from most types of cancers, including cancer of the esophagus, colon, liver, pancreas and kidneys.

Overweight or obese men had an increased risk of death from cancer of the stomach and prostate, and heavy post-menopausal women had an increased risk of death from cancers of the breast, uterus, cervix and ovaries. However obesity did not raise the risk of death from lung cancer, brain cancer and melanoma.