Body size at different ages and risk of six cancers: a Mendelian randomization and prospective cohort study

Scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partner institutions provide new evidence that obesity in childhood and young adulthood is a risk factor for developing endometrial cancer and kidney cancer. The research was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The researchers analysed the association between body size in early life and in adulthood and the risk of six common obesity-related cancer types: cancer of the colorectum, kidney, pancreas, lung, ovary, and endometrium. They used both reported body size in 180 000 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort and genetic data from more than 90 000 patients with cancer and 230 000 controls.

Larger body size both in early life and in adulthood was consistently associated with a higher risk of endometrial cancer and kidney cancer. The findings suggest that obesity in childhood and young adulthood influences the risk of endometrial cancer and kidney cancer mainly through the same mechanistic pathways as obesity in adulthood. For the other cancer types in the study, the authors found no clear associations between body size in early life and cancer risk.

Mariosa D, Smith-Byrne K, Richardson TG, Ferrari P, Gunter MJ, Papadimitriou N, et al.
Body size at different ages and risk of six cancers: a Mendelian randomization and prospective cohort study
J Natl Cancer Inst, Published online 19 April 2022;
https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djac061

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