#non-alcoholic fatty liver disease #insulin #cancer+2

Is There a Connection Between Cancer and Being Overweight?

28 octombrie 2025

2 min de lectură

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Today, being overweight is commonly blamed for many diseases. This is often the case, but the connection becomes muddled for some when talking about cancer. Let's look at the connection between being overweight and cancer.

Concluzii cheie

Today, being overweight is commonly blamed for many diseases.
How does fat affect the body?
The less the better

Pentru cine este

Persoane care explorează Preventive Oncology prin intermediul non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, insulin.

De ce contează

Acest articol te ajută să te orientezi rapid, apoi să treci la o colecție sau serie dacă vrei să continui.

Autorul articolului

Dr. Tatjana

Endocrinologist

How does fat affect the body?

Scientists have determined that excess fat mass affects a number of vital signs that previously were not associated with the weight of a person.

Obese people often have elevated levels of insulin (hyperinsulinemia) and insulin-like growth factor — 1 (IGF-1) in the blood, which contribute to colon, kidney, prostate and endometrial cancer.

Being overweight is often accompanied by chronic inflammatory conditions such as gallstones or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. These conditions can cause oxidative stress, which leads to DNA damage and increases the risk of gallbladder cancer and other cancers.

Fat tissue produces excessive amounts of the hormone estrogen, which causes breast and uterine cells to divide more frequently. This can cause breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers. The risk is especially high after the onset of menopause.

Excess body fat is not just stored in the body — it is active and sends signals that cause the body's cells to divide more frequently, which provokes cancer.

The most common obesity-related cancer among women is breast cancer, and among men it is colorectal cancer. Overall, being overweight and obese is associated with a high risk of developing 13 types of cancer including colon, stomach, uterine, ovarian and thyroid cancer.

The less the better

The likelihood of cancer increases as a person becomes overweight. This does not mean that an overweight person will get cancer, but their chances are much higher than those of normal weight. Scientists have also discovered a related pattern that has been confirmed by the results of several large-scale studies: the probability of developing breast, endometrial, colon and prostate cancer for formerly obese people who have lost weight decreases.

Of course, cancer can be triggered by many factors beyond our control. But maintaining a healthy weight is well within our power! This is an important preventive step to take.

In the U.S., there are over 684,000 cases of obesity-related cancers each year. In the UK, being overweight is the second leading cause of cancer.

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