Obesity Surgery May Reduce Cancer Risk
Two studies from Canada and Brazil announced at conferences earlier this week suggest that bariatric or weight-loss surgery to control obesity may also cut cancer risk.
The Canadian study was conducted by Dr Nicolas Christou of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, who reported his preliminary results to the 25th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery, in Washington DC, and the Brazilian study was conducted by Dr Alfredo Halpern, of the University of São Paulo, and colleagues. Halpern presented the results of his study to the The Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
People who are obese have a significantly higher risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast, colon, esophagal and kidney cancer.
Christou said bariatric surgery is increasingly being used to help morbidly obese patients to lose up to 70 per cent of their excess weight and to maintain their weight loss. According to Halpern, research suggests the benefits include resolution of type 2 diabetes, reduced blood pressure and lower risk of premature death.
Reuters yesterday gave an estimated figure that 205,000 people underwent bariatric surgery in the United States in 2007.
For the Canadian study, Christou explained how bariatric surgery also decreased the risk of patients developing cancer by up to 80 per cent. Most of the patients in this study had gastric bypass surgery, a procedure that leaves the patient with a smaller stomach and allows food to bypass part of the small intestine.
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