Findings of 'Million Women Study' Reinforce Obesity-Cancer Link
By Hugh C. McBride
One of the largest health studies in British history has found an association between a heightened body mass index and an increased likelihood of developing a range of cancers in women ages 50 to 64.
A joint effort by Cancer Research UK and the National Health Service, "The Million Women Study" tracked health and wellness data of one million British women ages 50 to 64 between 1996 and 2001.
According to a July 16, 2008, article on the Medindia health news website, researchers with the study reported that a 10-point BMI increase can triple a woman's odds of developing cancer. Medindia also reported the following findings:
- Almost half of the cases pertaining to cancer of the womb and throat in study participants were found to be linked to obesity.
- Study participants who had high BMIs were found to be at increased risk of developing leukemia, multiple myeloma, and cancers of the kidneys, pancreas, and ovaries.
- During the five-year study period, 45,037 new cancers were diagnosed among study participants and 17,203 women died of the disease.
"We estimate that being overweight or obese accounts for around 6,000 out of a total 120,000 new cases of cancer each year among middle-aged and older women in the UK," the study's lead researcher, Dr. Gillian Reeves, said in a Nov. 12, 2007, article on the
Medical News Today website. "Our research also shows that being overweight has a much bigger impact on the risk of some cancers than others. Two-thirds of the additional 6,000 cancers each year due to overweight or obesity would be cancers of the womb or breast."
The
Medical News Today article also noted that age also influenced the BMI-cancer link in certain forms of the disease. For example, overweight women were found to be at increased risk of developing breast cancer only after menopause, while only pre-menopausal overweight women were more likely to develop cancer of the bowel.
The
British Medical Journal published the study findings on the journal's website.
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