In
what may come as a bit of a surprise, a new study found that overweight colon
cancer patients tended to have better survival than their normal-weight peers.
"Overweight and obesity have been identified as risk factors for many health conditions, but for people with colorectal cancer, some extra weight may provide protection against mortality," said study lead author Candyce Kroenke. She's a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Ca.
Still, one health expert cautioned that the finding is no license for people to
pile on excess pounds.
"This study should not be used to describe an 'upside' of being overweight
with regard to cancer risk, since overweight people develop cancer at higher
rates," said gastroenterologist Dr. Arun Swaminath of Lenox Hill Hospital
in New York City.
In the study, Kroenke's team examined the medical records of more than 3,400
people in California diagnosed with stages 1-3 colon cancer between 2006 and
2011. The researchers then compared each patient's risk of death at the time of
diagnosis and then over the following 15 months.
Patients who were either underweight or statistically obese at diagnosis were
more likely to die than normal-weight patients, the study found.
However, people who fell into the "overweight" - but not obese -
category were 55 percent less likely to die from colon cancer and 48 percent
less likely to die from any cause than normal-weight patients, the research
team found.
Prior research has shown that overweight and obese people are at higher risk
for several types of cancers. However, they often have better cancer outcomes
than normal-weight patients, something referred to as the "obesity
paradox," the researchers noted.
"Our study, which represents the largest cohort of colorectal cancer
patients with the most comprehensive data regarding patient weight before, at
time of, and following diagnosis, supports the notion of the 'obesity
paradox," Kroenke said in a Kaiser news release.
This is an observational study, however, so it cannot prove that weight helped
cause (or shield against) death in these patients
"Overweight and obesity have been identified as risk factors for many health conditions, but for people with colorectal cancer, some extra weight may provide protection against mortality," said study lead author Candyce Kroenke. She's a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Ca.
Still, one health expert cautioned that the finding is no license for people to
pile on excess pounds.
"This study should not be used to describe an 'upside' of being overweight
with regard to cancer risk, since overweight people develop cancer at higher
rates," said gastroenterologist Dr. Arun Swaminath of Lenox Hill Hospital
in New York City.
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