Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Obesity and gastrointestinal cancers — where do we go from here?

Obesity is an established risk factor for gastrointestinal cancers. Interventions that reduce the burden of obesity at both the societal and individual level and targeted interventions among those at higher risk of cancer should be developed, supported by advances in understanding of the biology that underpins the obesity–cancer link.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Reducing the burden of obesity-associated gastrointestinal cancer.

References

  1. Bray, F. et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21492 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lauby-Secetan, B. et al. Body fatness and cancer – viewpoint of the IARC working group. N. Engl. J. Med. 375, 794–798 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Pearson-Stuttard, J. et al. Worldwide burden of cancer attributable to diabetes and high body-mass index: a comparative risk assessment. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 6, e6–e15 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. NCD Risk Factor Collaboration. Worldwide trends in body mass index from 1975 to 2016: a pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128.9 million children, adolescents and adults. Lancet 390, 2627–2642 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Murphy, N., Jenab, M. & Gunter, M. J. Adiposity and gastrointestinal cancers: epidemiology, mechanisms and future directions. Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-018-0038-1 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ulrich, C. M. et al. Energy balance and gastrointestinal cancer: risk, interventions, outcomes and mechanisms. Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-018-0053-2 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Stefan, N. et al. Metabolically healthy obesity: epidemiology, mechanisms and clinical implications. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 1, 152–162 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Samson, S. L. & Garber, A. J. Metabolic syndrome. Endocrinol. Metab. Clin. North Am. 43, 1–23 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Murphy, N. et al. Nested case-control study of metabolically defined body size phenotypes and risk of colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). PLOS Med. 13, e1001988 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kabat, G. C. et al. Metabolic obesity phenotypes and risk of colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women. Int. J. Cancer 143, 543–551 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marc J. Gunter.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gunter, M.J., Riboli, E. Obesity and gastrointestinal cancers — where do we go from here?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 15, 651–652 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-018-0073-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-018-0073-y

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer