Have we in our overweight society been trying to ignore the mounting evidence connecting overweight and obesity with increased cancer risk?

If you’ve heard stories in the general media about the relationship between breast, colon, or other cancers with obesity but “were afraid to ask,” you’ll want to read “Obesity-Related Cancer in Women: A Clinical Review” in this month’s AJN.

Sobering evidence.

Author Anne Katz shares the evidence for an increased risk of certain cancers and cancer recurrence in women who are overweight or obese, focusing on the association between extra weight and cancers of the breast, endometrium, cervix, colon, and rectum.

 “Over the past decade, the role that overweight and obesity play in cancer development, recurrence, and related mortality, particularly among women, has become increasingly clear… [and] gynecologic cancers are among those with the strongest evidence for the association with obesity.”

The specificity of the research regarding cancer recurrence, cancer-specific mortality, and fewer years of disease-free survival is sobering. Obesity also increases the risk of infection and other complications arising from cancer surgery, and can increase the toxicity of radiation therapy.

Approaching difficult discussions about weight loss.

Katz acknowledges the difficulties of weight loss discussions, especially after a diagnosis of cancer. But she also notes that a crisis such as cancer can help motivate people to lose weight and shares possible approaches to introducing the subject to patients and working with patients on weight loss strategies.

Read more in this CE article in this month’s AJN, and listen on our website to editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy’s podcast with the author. (AJN podcasts are also accessible for download individually and by subscription via iTunes at Apple podcasts.)