2 in 3 adults in the United States are overweight or obese. These weight problems increase the risk of developing health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer. One of the risks of cancer is endometrial cancer, also called cancer of the uterine body. Obesity is considered to be the main risk factor for this cancer which affects the inner lining of the uterus.
American researchers from the San Diego School of Medicine (California) discovered that bariatric surgery was able to reduce the risk of endometrial cancer by 71% in women with severe obesity. “A woman with a BMI of 40 has an 8 times greater risk of developing endometrial cancer than a person with a BMI of 25”, explains Kristy Ward, author of the study.
“Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death. This study confirms that reducing obesity reduces cancer. We need to find solutions to help women lose weight and bariatric surgery is one of the options.”
This surgical technique is intended for obese people (severe form) as a last resort, when weight loss diets have had no effect on weight.
Weight loss surgery involves reducing food intake by reducing the size of the stomach. For this, different techniques exist: fitting of an adjustable gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy (withdrawal of part of the stomach) or by-pass (reduction of the stomach and modification of the food circuit). The results covered a cohort of more than 7 million patients. They were published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology.
