First Irish study on obesity/cancer link signals clear evidence of a link
A new Irish study has backed a link between obesity and a type of oesophageal cancer which has increased dramatically in the western world.
The first Irish study on obesity and cancer by a research team at St James’s Hospital in Dublin and published in the European Journal of Cancer points to clear evidence that obesity is the major risk factor in the development of a type of oesophageal cancer, St James’s says.
Among the findings were that approximately 82 per cent of patients with this cancer were overweight or obese prior to their illness; this is compared with a prevalence of 59 per cent in age-matched individuals in the general population The results also showed an 11-fold higher instance of oesophageal cancer in obese versus normal weight people. For cancers at the top of stomach (gastric cardia) the risk was 3.5 times higher if obese, it says.
Researchers say that previous to this study, only evidence from abroad suggested that being obese and developing cancer were linked. The study, which involved 760 cancer patients and 900 healthy controls, is the second largest international study on the obesity-cancer link in oesophageal cancer, it says.
The risk of this cancer was shown to be unique to men – it was not demonstrated that it is a risk factor for women and this is the first time this has been reported, it says.
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