Weight-loss surgery could cut the risk of cancer by more than half, a new study reveals. Most people have the surgery to slim and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes but scientists are finding even more benefits.
Just four per cent of patients who underwent weight-loss surgery developed a cancer associated with weight in a ten year follow-up. Of those who didn’t have the procedure, after ten years 8.9 per cent were diagnosed with a cancer linked to obesity.
The study looked at the records of over 55,700 obese patients who had surgery and compared them with the same number of similar patients who did not have a procedure. The patients had a range of operations including sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass and gastric band procedures.
In a ten year follow up the number of patients who developed obesity-linked cancers was 2,206 among those who had surgery and 4,960 out of those who did not. Out of the participants who had surgery, 501 developed breast cancer, 201 got colon cancer, 969 had liver cancer, 54 were diagnosed with pancreas cancer, 130 developed ovarian cancer and 154 had to be treated for thyroid cancer.
With those who didn’t have surgery, 751 were diagnosed with breast cancer, 360 suffered from colon cancer, 2,198 had liver cancer, 86 got pancreas cancer, 214 were treated for ovarian cancer and 175 were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The team ensured they took into consideration other risk factors such as smoking history, alcohol use, heart disease, hormone therapies and other illnesses.
Lead author Dr. Vibhu Chittajallu, a gastroenterology fellow at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals in Cleveland, US, said: "The primary benefit people consider when they think about bariatric surgery is weight loss and the accompanying physical and psychological benefits, such as improved blood pressure and diabetes. This study adds to the building evidence that the significant weight loss associated with bariatric surgery may have a protective effect against cancer formation as well.”
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He added: “We need more research to understand how bariatric surgery affects cancer risk, but the significant findings from this study suggest it’s an exciting avenue for further study.” The study will be presented at Digestive Disease Week 2023, which will run between May 6 and 9 of this year.
