Cancers linked to excess weight make up 40% of all US diagnoses, study finds

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CDC researchers said the risk of 13 cancers is increased by being overweight or obese, including cancer of the thyroid, gallbladder, liver, kidney, colon and pancreas. Being overweight also increases the risk of a blood cancer called myeloma, a spinal cancer called meningioma, a type of esophageal cancer, and a type of stomach cancer.

The study looked at cancers more likely to occur in people who are overweight or obese. These cancers are linked to being overweight, but are not necessarily caused by being overweight.

The study found that between 2005 and 2014, the rates of overweight-linked cancers increased 7% (not including colorectal cancer), while rates of cancers not associated with obesity declined 13%. In effect, increased rates of overweight-associated cancers slowed the trend of decreasing cancer cases nationally.

“Our report found an increase in a number of types of cancers associated with obesity and overweight, at a period when the prevalence of obesity and overweight has increased substantially in the middle ages,” said Schuchat. “The prevalence of obesity and overweight is starting to show up in our cancer statistics.”