Excess weight contributes to more than 7 per cent of cancers

More than 7 per cent of cancer cases in the U.S. are attributable to excess body weight, a study reports. Previous studies have established an association between body fat and at least a dozen cancers, with the highest risks for liver, uterine and esophageal cancers. The report, in JAMA Oncology, found that from 2011 to 2015, among people 30 and older, 4.7 per cent of cancers in men and 9.6 per cent of those in women were attributable to excess weight — some 37,670 cancers in men, and 74,690 in women every year. The highest rates of weight-associated cancer are in the South, the Midwest, Alaska and Washington D.C.; the lowest were in the Mountain States, New England and Hawaii. More than 8 per cent of cancers in Texas and Washington, D.C., are associated with body fatness. Researcher Farhad Islami said the fat-attributable portion of cancer cases will likely increase in future due to rising obesity.