PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Combining BMI with body shape better predictor of cancer risk, suggests

UK study in over 440,000 adults

2021-05-10
(Press-News.org) New research being presented at The European Congress on Obesity (ECO) held online this year, suggests that a measure of body shape should be used alongside body mass index (BMI) to help determine the risk of obesity-related cancers.

BMI is a simple way of measuring body fat from the weight and height of a person. But its reliability is often criticised, because it does not distinguish fat from muscle, or take into account where body fat is stored or an individual's sex or age. Similarly, waist circumference takes into account belly fat, which is linked to several health risks including cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and cancer, but fails to account for height.

A new metric to measure obesity, called 'A body shape index' (ABSI), takes into account an individual's age, sex, weight, height and waist circumference--and it may provide a more accurate estimate of cancer risk than BMI.

To explore this further, researchers from the University of Glasgow and the University of Newcastle, combined data from 442,614 participants (average age 56 years) from the UK Biobank prospective cohort who were followed for an average of 8 years, during which 36,961 individuals were diagnosed with cancer.

Participants were broken down into three groups (tertiles) according to their body shape to examine the associations with the risk of 24 different types of cancer; and to examine ABSI and BMI as predictors of cancer risk. Results were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, education, income, smoking, alcohol consumption, dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary time.

The analysis found that body shape and BMI predicted different obesity-related cancer risk in adults. Specifically, ABSI was linked with an increased risk for three cancers. Participants in the highest ABSI tertile were 38% more likely to develop liver cancer, 40% more likely to develop lung cancer, and had a 17% increased risk of bowel cancer, compared to those in the lowest ABSI tertile, regardless of BMI.

However, researchers found that high ABSI and high BMI combined were linked with an increased risk for seven different types of cancer--uterine, oesophageal, liver, stomach, kidney, bowel, breast cancer. For example, participants in the highest ABSI tertile who were also overweight or obese (BMI 25 kg/m2 or over) were at twice the risk of developing uterine cancer than those with the lowest ABSI and normal BMI.

"Our findings underscore the importance of measuring more than just BMI when predicting cancer risk, and suggest that people's body shape may increase their risk of certain cancers", says lead author Dr Carlos Celis-Morales from the University of Glasgow, UK. "Whatever method you use, being overweight or obese is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. More urgent actions are needed to help people maintain a healthy bodyweight and shape throughout their lives, starting at an early age."

Having excess body fat can lead to biological changes that alter levels of sex hormones, such as oestrogen and testosterone, cause levels of insulin to rise, and lead to inflammation, all of which have been linked with increased risk of 13 different types of cancer.

This is an observational study, so cannot establish cause, and it is not a representative sample of the UK adult population, so the results cannot be generalised to the general population.

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Higher BMI, body fat, and larger waist and hips pose similar risk for

2021-05-10
Obesity increases the risk of developing 10 of the most common cancers, regardless of how it is measured, according to a study of more than 400,000 adults in the UK, being presented at The European Congress on Obesity (ECO) held online this year, with central fatness (larger waist and hips) and general obesity (body mass index [BMI] and body fat percentage) associated with similar estimates of cancer risk. The results suggest that BMI is an adequate measure of cancer risk from excess weight, and there is no advantage in using more complicated or expensive measures such as waist circumference or body fat percentage. It is well known that being overweight or obese is linked to an elevated risk of some cancers and premature ...

Higher BMI in childhood may help protect women against breast cancer in later life, both before and after the menopause

2021-05-10
A study of more than 173,000 women in Denmark, presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) held online this year, suggests that girls with a higher body mass index (BMI) during childhood are less likely than their peers with a lower BMI to develop breast cancer as adults, both before and after the menopause. The findings contrast with those for adult BMI, which indicate that women who gain weight after menopause have an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. While the authors are unsure why children with a higher BMI appear to be protected ...

Research shows for the first time that protein complexes 'inflammasomes' are linked to obesity-related colon cancer

2021-05-10
New research presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (held online, 10-13 May) finds evidence that structures called inflammasomes (a part of the innate immune system that helps to regulate inflammation) could play an important role in the development of obesity-associated colon cancer. The study is by Dr Victoria Catalán and Professor Gema Frühbeck, University Hospital Navarra and CIBEROBN, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Pamplona, Spain, and colleagues. Inflammasomes* form part of the innate immune system which provides the first line of defence against pathogens using a wide range of physical, chemical, ...

New Strep A human challenge model paves the way to test vaccines against the deadly bacteria

2021-05-09
Researchers have successfully developed a new Strep A human challenge model, paving the way to test vaccines against the common deadly bacteria that causes sore throats, scarlet fever and skin sores. The collaborative research effort, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published in The Lancet Microbe, found the model, which deliberately infected healthy adult volunteers with the bacteria in a controlled environment, was safe and would now be used to trial Strep A candidate vaccines. Strep A infections affect about 750 million people and kill more than 500,000 globally every year - more than influenza, ...

How proteins control information processing in the brain

2021-05-09
A complicated interaction between different proteins is needed for information to pass from one nerve cell to the next. Researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have now managed to study this process in the synaptic vesicles, which play an important role in this process. The study appeared in the journal Nature Communications. Several billion nerve cells communicate with each other in the body so that humans and other living beings can perceive and react to their environment. A host of complex chemical and electrical processes occur within a few milliseconds. "Special messenger substances - known as neurotransmitters - are released at the synapses of the nerve cells. They transmit information between the individual nerve cells," explains Dr Carla Schmidt, ...

Study supports recommendations to avoid pregnancy for at least 12 months after obesity surgery

2021-05-09
A study presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (held online, 10-13 May) supports recommendations to avoid pregnancy for 12 months after bariatric (obesity) surgery due to an association with adverse outcomes in pregnancy including an elevated risk of preterm birth. The study is by Dr Laura Heusschen, Vitalys Obesity Clinic, part of Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands, and colleagues. More than half of all female patients who undergo bariatric surgery are of reproductive age, and the resulting weight loss improves fertility, as well as reducing the risk of gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. It also ...

Most comprehensive studies to date find 'insufficient evidence' to support herbal and dietary supplements for weight loss

2021-05-09
The first global review of complementary medicines (herbal and dietary supplements) for weight loss in 16 years--combining 121 randomised placebo-controlled trials including nearly 10,000 adults--suggests that their use cannot be justified based on the current evidence. The findings of two studies, being presented at The European Congress on Obesity (ECO) held online this year, suggest that although some herbal and dietary supplements show statistically greater weight loss than placebo, it is not enough to benefit health, and the authors call for more research into their long-term safety. "Over-the-counter ...

Vegetarians have healthier levels of disease markers than meat-eaters

2021-05-09
Vegetarians appear to have a healthier biomarker profile than meat-eaters, and this applies to adults of any age and weight, and is also unaffected by smoking and alcohol consumption, according to a new study in over 166,000 UK adults, being presented at this week's European Congress on Obesity (ECO), held online this year. Biomarkers can have bad and good health effects, promoting or preventing cancer, cardiovascular and age-related diseases, and other chronic conditions, and have been widely used to assess the effect of diets on health. However, evidence of the metabolic benefits associated with being vegetarian is unclear. To understand ...

Switch of breast tumors to HER2-low in recurrence may provide greater therapeutic options

Switch of breast tumors to HER2-low in recurrence may provide greater therapeutic options
2021-05-08
Lugano, Switzerland, 8 May 2021 - The finding that breast tumours can evolve to express low HER2 potentially widens the number of patients who can benefit from new investigational agents, typically novel antibody-drug conjugate therapies, that are currently in clinical trials for HER2-low tumours. The first study of its kind exploring how breast cancers change from the primary to the recurrent tumour has revealed that nearly 30% of breast cancer patients convert from, or to, human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)2-low status. Specifically, the study found that 14% of triple-negative breast cancers with HER2-negative expression (also referred to as HER2-0) in the primary tumour converted to HER2-low expression in the recurrent tumour ...

Mild COVID-19 infection is very unlikely to cause lasting heart damage

2021-05-08
Mild Covid-19 infection is very unlikely to cause lasting damage to the structure or function of the heart, according to a study led by UCL (University College London) researchers and funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Barts Charity. The researchers say the results, published in JACC Cardiovascular Imaging, should reassure the public, as they relate to the vast majority of people who had Covid-19 infections with mild or no symptoms. This study of 149 healthcare workers recruited from Barts Health and Royal Free London NHS Trusts is the largest and most detailed study to date into ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

A KAIST-Seoul National University Hospital research team develops a computational workflow that predicts metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with somatic mutations in cancers

Bendable energy storage materials by cool science

Inorganic nitrate can help protect patients against kidney damage caused during coronary angiographic procedures

Active social lives help dementia patients, caregivers thrive

New technique measures psilocybin potency of mushrooms

UC Irvine-led research team discovers role of key enzymes that drive cancer mutations

All creatures great and small: Sequencing the blue whale and Etruscan shrew genomes

Sustainable solution for wastewater polluted by dyes used in many industries

Food companies’ sponsorship of children’s sports encourages children to buy their products, Canadian research suggests

USC receives $3.95 million CIRM grant for organoid resource center

New research finds boreal arctic wetlands are producing more methane over time

TLI Investigator Dr. Wei Yan named Editor-in-Chief of the Andrology Journal

New study reveals insights into COVID-19 antibody response durability

Climate change alters the hidden microbial food web in peatlands

Text nudges can increase uptake of COVID-19 boosters– if they play up a sense of ownership of the vaccine

A new study shows how neurochemicals affect fMRI readings

Digital reminders for flu vaccination improves turnout, but not clinical outcomes in older adults

Avatar will not lie... or will it? Scientists investigate how often we change our minds in virtual environments

8-hour time-restricted eating linked to a 91% higher risk of cardiovascular death

Alternative tidal wetlands in plain sight overlooked Blue Carbon superstars

The majority of Americans do not support anti-democratic behavior, even when elected officials do

Genes identified that allow bacteria to thrive despite toxic heavy metal in soil

Scientists’ discovery could reduce dependence on animals for vital anti-blood clot drug

Artificial streams reveal how drought shapes California’s alpine ecosystems

Not in my backyard? Wind turbines have little effect on US property values

The costs of a changing landscape

UMD researchers develop genomic method of monitoring for pesticide resistance

Backyard insect inspires invisibility devices, next gen tech

Americans support democratic norms, elected officials don't

Harnessing hydrogen at life’s origin

[Press-News.org] Combining BMI with body shape better predictor of cancer risk, suggests
UK study in over 440,000 adults