PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, diabetes and several forms of cancer — and according to a study by researchers at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, undergoing bariatric surgery to reduce one's weight greatly reduces the risk for cancer.
The research is the first to show the link between bariatric weight loss and a decreased cancer risk for people with severe obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
"Any kind of malignancy was reduced by about 18%, obesity-related cancers were reduced by 25%," said Dr. Vinod Rustgi, professor of medicine, clinical director of hepatology and director of the school's Center for Liver Diseases and Liver Masses. "And when it came to a much smaller population of those liver patients who had cirrhosis, then the risk was decreased over 50%."
Rustgi says it's not clear why the cancer risk drops so dramatically, if it's the weight loss or a hormonal change following the surgery. In addition, researchers found that bariatric surgery significantly reduced the risk of other obesity-related cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, endometrial and thyroid cancers.
The research was published in the journal Gastroenterology.