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Putting on weight can increase women’s risk of ovarian cancer, according to a new assessment of the evidence. |
Ovarian cancer has a poor prognosis because it has few symptoms and is usually caught at a late stage.
More than 7,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year and there are about 4,300 deaths. If it is caught early more than 90% of women will survive for at least five years, but at the late stage that drops to less than 10%.
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), which works on the prevention of cancer, has published an update of the risks for ovarian cancer, as part of its Continuous Update Project. For the first time, it says that overweight and obesity are a probable cause.
Weight is known to be an issue in some other cancers, including breast and bowel cancer.
In the UK 61% of people (57% of women) are overweight or obese which, says the WCRF, puts them at greater risk of developing one of eight types of cancer than their normal-weight neighbours.
The WRCF says an estimated 23,400 cases of cancer - one in six - could be avoided if nobody was overweight. Maintaining a healthy weight is one of its 10 recommendations for avoiding cancer.
“We can now say with certainty that being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing ovarian cancer, just as it does with a number of other cancers such as breast, bowel and womb cancer,” said Dr Rachel Thompson, head of research interpretation. “This means that women can make lifestyle changes to reduce their chances of getting ovarian cancer.
“Previously we only knew about risk factors that are fixed, such as age and family history of the disease, but now we can say that keeping to a healthy weight helps reduce the risk of getting ovarian cancer.”