Obesity and Cancer: Is There a Link

Obesity rates have surged in recent decades.

The World Health Organization estimates [1] that as of 2022, over 12% of the global population lives with obesity, and more than 2.5 billion people are overweight. Among them, 390 million are children and adolescents.

Excess body weight is linked not only to heart disease and diabetes, but also to cancer.

Studies now show a clear connection between obesity and higher cancer risk. This link involves biological mechanisms that promote cancer development and progression.

In this article, we’ll explain how obesity contributes to cancer, highlight the cancer types most associated with excess weight, and share evidence-based ways to lower your risk through weight loss, diet, and physical activity.

What’s the Link Between Obesity and Cancer Risk

Research shows that obesity doesn’t just correlate with cancer – it can actively drive its development. This link is rooted in biological changes that occur in the body when excess fat is present.

The following sections explain these processes in further detail.

How Obesity Increases Cancer Risk: The Role of Inflammation and Hormones

While the association between body weight and cancer incidence is unclear, researchers theorize that the mode of effect may vary depending on cancer type.

There are two potential mechanisms that can contribute to increased cancer risk: inflammation and hormones.

Most scientists agree that the high levels of cellular inflammation caused by excess body fat and the impact of fat on immune function play a key role in the development of various forms of cancer.

As one study explains[2]:

“Inflammation is the body’s response to tissue damage, caused by physical injury, ischemic injury (caused by an insufficient supply of blood to an organ), infection, exposure to toxins, or other types of trauma. The body’s inflammatory response causes cellular changes and immune responses that result in repair of the damaged tissue and cellular proliferation (growth) at the site of the injured tissue. Inflammation can become chronic if the cause of the inflammation persists or certain control mechanisms in charge of shutting down the process fail. When these inflammatory responses become chronic, cell mutation and proliferation can result, often creating an environment that is conducive to the development of cancer.”

Chronic inflammation can trigger abnormal cell growth by causing repeated tissue damage and repair. Over time, this can lead to changes in cell structure or function—known as dysplasia—which increases the chance of cancerous cell formation.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines and other inflammation-causing cells can also increase the production of cancer cells. However, they’re also produced by cancer cells, and can accelerate the progression of malignant cells.

On the hormone side, it’s known that overweight or obese individuals suffer from disrupted hormones, including insulin, estrogen, and insulin-like growth factors. This hormone disruption is believed to play a factor in the elevated risk of cancer cell formation.

According to the National Cancer Institute [3]:

Fat cells and adipose tissue increases the production of estrogen, which has been linked to a number of cancer types.

Adipose tissue also produces adipokines, a type of hormone that stimulates cell growth and can promote aberrant cell proliferation (aka, tumor growth) especially when combined with high levels of leptin.

High levels of IGF-1 (common with obesity) and insulin can elevate your risk of a number of different types of cancer.

Obesity can impair autophagy and the function of mTOR, your body’s cellular scavenging mechanism that clears away cellular junk. In decreasing autophagy, obesity allows for cellular junk to “pile up” in the body, leading to higher risk of damaged or faulty cells being developed.

Which Cancers Are Linked to Obesity?

The National Institutes of Health have linked obesity to a number of different cancer types, including [4]:

• Esophageal cancer;
• Upper stomach cancer;
• Colorectal cancer;
• Gallbladder cancer;
• Pancreatic cancer;
• Liver cancer;
• Kidney cancer;
• Lung cancer;
• Breast cancer (especially postmenopausal breast cancer);
• Thyroid cancer;
• Endometrial cancer;
• Ovarian cancer;
• Meningioma;
• Multiple myeloma.

The American Cancer Society has evidence to suggest a link between obesity and other cancer types, including [5]:

• Male breast cancer;
• Prostate cancer (particularly the more aggressive types);
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma;
• Cancers of the throat, mouth, and larynx.

The Increased Risk of Cancer in Overweight and Obese Individuals

Currently, 70% of American adults are either overweight or obese, with approximately 37% of Americans defined as having obesity.

While we often focus on the cardiovascular and diabetes risks associated with excess weight, being overweight or obese has also been shown to increase risk for other serious, life-threatening conditions, including various forms of dementia and cancer.

Approximately 38% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, with overweight or obese patients at an increased risk for a cancer diagnosis.

An estimated 7% of all cancer deaths are attributed to overweight or obesity.

How great of a cancer risk is being overweight or obese?

How much greater is the risk for overweight or obese individuals? It varies largely depending on cancer type.

Overweight and obese women are estimated to have a risk factor 2-4 times as high as healthily weight women for endometrial cancer, for example, while risk for pancreatic cancer is about 1.5 times as high.

According to NIH data, the risk of esophageal and endometrial cancer are highest among obese individuals—between 5 and 7 times higher than people of a healthy weight. For the other cancers, rates rise anywhere from 10% to 200% among those suffering from obesity.

Most obesity associated cancers have also shown to have a dose-dependent risk relationship with body weight. In other words, the greater the weight, the higher the risk.

For example, while overweight or obese women have a risk increase of up to 300% for endometrial cancers, morbidly obese women have an increased risk of up to 800%.

How Weight Loss Can Reduce Cancer Risk

Currently, the associations between weight loss and risk reduction are not as clear as the association between weight gain and increased risk. However, the available data shows that losing weight can significantly reduce risk for certain types of cancer, particularly for cancers of the breast and prostate.

Cancers that are hormonally influenced tend to benefit most from weight loss, given the hormonal disruption that occurs with overweight or obesity and subsequent hormonal rebalancing that can occur with adequate weight loss and maintenance.

Studies on cancer risk have found that weight loss benefits individuals who are overweight or obese to a significant degree in long-term interventions.

Studies on cellular changes in the colon, rectum, and gastrointestinal tract have shown that some of the cellular changes associated with overweight and obesity that influence cancer risk are reversible with weight loss and maintenance.

Shorter term interventions have also shown some degree of improvement in risk reduction, but not to as significant degree as longer intervention periods. This is likely given the relatively small amount of weight loss and inflammation reduction that occurs in a shorter intervention period.

The risk reduction associated with weight loss also appears to be dose-dependent, much like the risk increase associated with weight gain. Overweight or obese individuals who lose a higher amount of their starting weight benefit from a greater riskreduction than those losing less.

The Impact of Diet and Exercise on Cancer Risk

Diet and exercise habits vary widely among individuals, regardless of body weight. Just as some people with a healthy weight follow poor lifestyle habits, many overweight or obese individuals maintain active routines and eat well.

With that being said, how do diet and activity habits impact cancer risk for overweight or obese individuals? Is the risk still high?

While cancer research is still evolving, evidence consistently shows that diet quality, physical activity, and body weight all influence cancer risk. In other words, even with a healthy diet and regular exercise, excess body weight alone can increase the likelihood of developing cancer.

This is largely due to the inescapable levels of inflammation that occur in overweight or obesity, which can only be fully remedied with weight loss and maintenance.

However, overweight or obese individuals who maintain a healthy diet and stay physically active face a lower cancer risk than those with similar weight who do not. These healthy habits also improve outcomes for those already diagnosed with cancer, reducing recurrence rates and improving survival rates.

Your Five Steps to Managing Weight and Reducing Cancer Risk

If you’re feeling concerned about your long-term health after reading this, that’s a positive step. It means you’re ready to take action toward managing your weight—and with it, lowering your cancer risk.

Here are five practical changes you can start making today:

• Step 1: Improve your diet. Cut out all processed, artificial, and sugary foods. Focus on eating only foods that you have yourself cooked from raw, natural ingredients. Prioritize vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins. Improve what you eat first, and you’ll find the next step a lot easier to follow through.
• Step 2: Reduce caloric intake. Get yourself checked out by a doctor or certified nutritionist or fitness trainer to determine what your recommended caloric intake should be. Then, make sure to eat fewer calories than you need every day. Maintaining a daily caloric deficit of 200 to 500 calories is the key to effective, sustainable weight loss.
• Step 3: Do more intense activity. This will likely be easier said than done, but it’s absolutely worth the effort! Adding in more high and moderate-intensity exercise—like lifting weights, HIIT, running, jogging, cycling, martial arts, dancing, or spinning—will increase the number of calories your body burns each day and increase your metabolic rate. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-to-high-intensity exercise at least five days a week.
• Step 4: Move more. You may think this is the same as Step 3, but it’s very much not. While you should prioritize workouts, that 30 to 60 minutes per day isn’t enough to reverse the effects of obesity. You need to move more to encourage your body to burn more calories and increase your metabolism throughout the day. In addition to your workout, aim for anywhere from 15 to 120 minutes of walking and other movement (cleaning your house, raking your yard, walking your dog, playing with your kids, etc.) every day. The more you move, the more fat you burn.
• Step 5: Live a healthier lifestyle. While diet and exercise play a significant role in combatting obesity and mitigating cancer risk, there are other areas where you can improve. Try to sleep more (a full 6 to 8 hours a night), quit or avoid smoking, reduce alcohol consumption (or eliminate it entirely, if you can), and manage your stress.

These are five simple cancer prevention and weight loss steps, but they will make a world of difference for your health.

Making Informed Decisions: Addressing the Obesity-Cancer Link

The science is clear: obesity is linked to a wide range of cancers. If you want to positively affect cancer risk, it’s imperative that you reduce your body weight—and, more specifically, your body fat.

Hopefully, the information we shared above will help you prioritize your health, and you can follow our five simple steps to managing your weight and thereby reduce your cancer risk.

Obesity doesn’t just affect how we feel—it fundamentally alters how our bodies function, increasing inflammation and disrupting key cellular processes. One of the most important biological switches involved is the mTOR pathway, which is now recognized as a driver of both accelerated aging and chronic diseases, including obesity-related cancers. Supporting your body’s ability to regulate this pathway can be a game-changer for long-term health.

Did you know that there is an enzyme in the body, called mTOR, that dictates how fast we age and repair our cells? Even more fascinating, this enzyme goes hand in hand with chronic and metabolic diseases, which is why it is vital to control it. Our Restore Life formula contains 7 proven natural mTOR-inhibiting ingredients, specifically designed to “switch off the aging button.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which group in the United States has the highest rate of obesity?

According to the NIH [6], obesity is most common among non-Hispanic blacks (49.6%), followed closely by Hispanic adults (44.8%) and non-Hispanic whites (42.2%). Obesity is least common among non-Hispanic Asian adults (just 17.4%). Obesity rates are highest among non-Hispanic black women (56.9%) and Hispanic men (45.7%).

What is the ideal weight for long life?

According to the World Health Organization[7], the “ideal” body weight is between 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2. This is the body mass index (BMI) least likely to cause health disorders and disease, therefore making it the ideal for a long and healthy life.

How much weight can an obese person lose in 1 month?

On average, it’s safe for an obese person (with a BMI above 30) to lose weight at a rate of roughly 1-2 pounds per week through dieting, exercise, and lifestyle interventions (meaning, not counting surgical options like bariatric surgery, for example). That translates to between 4 and 8 pounds in a month. This is a sustainable, healthy amount of weight loss manageable without crash diets, diet pills, or other extreme interventions.