Obesity has long been known to raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and arthritis. Now a report spotlights the peril of poundage for another disease - cancer. There are no new studies or revelations in the American Cancer Society's annual statistical report. Instead, it reviews the collective evidence linking obesity to breast, colon, prostate, uterine, cervical, ovarian and gall bladder cancers, and notes that some studies have found increased risk for kidney, liver, pancreatic, rectal and esophageal cancers as well.
Breast cancer is one of the important cancers for which obesity is a risk factor.
Little is known about what causes these cancers, and what is known often isn't modifiable, such as inherited risk, or age when a woman's periods start. Edward Giovannucci, an associate professor and epidemiologist at Harvard University Medical School, agreed. But for specific cancers, it's a significant factor. Obesity also is clearly a risk factor for breast cancer in women after menopause, he said. Obesity usually is defined by body mass index, a formula based on height and weight.