Excess weight almost doubles uterine cancer risk, new study shows

• A new study investigated the risk factors for womb, uterine or endometrial cancer.
• The study found that lifelong obesity increased the risk of this kind of cancer.
• The researchers also identified hormones that increase cancer risk.

New research has found that endometrial cancer risk is linked to obesity in women.

The study published in BMC Medicine evaluated the causal role of 14 molecular risk factors such as hormonal, metabolic and inflammatory markers in endometrial cancer risk. The study is the first to investigate the effect of lifelong greater Body Mass Index (BMI) on womb cancer risk.

The researchers assessed genetic samples from around 120 000 women from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. Of these women, almost 13 000 had womb cancer. The researchers then compared the women with endometrial cancer with those who did not have cancer. They assessed the roles of elevated BMI, fasting insulin, total and bioavailable testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin in the risk of endometrioid endometrial cancer.

Potential strategy

The study found that lifelong obesity increased the risk of endometrial cancer. The findings show that weight loss improves cancer outcomes in women with endometrial cancer undergoing progestin treatment.

The researchers identified two hormones, fasting insulin and testosterone, which increased the risk of being diagnosed with womb cancer. The results suggest a causal role of fasting insulin, total and bioavailable testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin in endometrial cancer risk.

The researchers say that the findings can help target insulinemic and hormonal traits as a potential strategy for the prevention of endometrial cancer.

"This study is an interesting first step into how genetic analyses could be used to uncover exactly how obesity causes cancer and what can be done to tackle it. Links between obesity and womb cancer are well-known, but this is one of the largest studies which has looked into exactly why that is on a molecular level. We look forward to further research exploring how we can now use this information to help reduce the risk of cancer in people struggling with obesity," said the lead author of the study Emma Hazelwood in a news statement.

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