Diabetes and High BMI Linked to a Significant Percent of Cancer Cases

A substantial amount of cancer cases are associated with high BMI and diabetes, with 5.6% of worldwide cancer cases in 2012 being linked to the 2 conditions, according to the results of a recent study.

Diabetes and high BMI have been shown to be associated with an increased risk of several cancers, and are increasing in prevalence worldwide.
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In order to estimate cancer incidence attributable to the conditions, researchers estimated the population attributable fractions for 12 cancers by age and sex for 175 countries in 2012. High BMI was defined as 25 kg/m² or higher. Comprehensive prevalence estimates of diabetes and BMI in 2002, as well as relative risks from published estimates, were used to quantify contribution of diabetes and BMI to site-specific cancers.

Overall, an estimated 5.6% of all incident cancers in 2012 were attributable to the combined effects of diabetes and high BMI as independent risk factors (792,600 new cases), while roughly 4.5% (626,900 new cases) were attributable to diabetes and high BMI in a conservative scenario. High BMI was associated with twice the number of cancer cases as diabetes (544,300 vs 280,100).

“A substantial number of cancer cases are attributable to diabetes and high BMI. As the prevalence of these cancer risk factors increases, clinical and public health efforts should focus on identifying optimal preventive and screening measures for whole populations and individual patients.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Pearson-Stuttard J, Zhou B, Vasilis K, et al. Worldwide burden of cancer attributable to diabetes and high body-mass index: a comparative risk assessment [published online November 28, 2017]. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(17)30366-2.