Scientists from Mayo Clinic and elsewhere found that people who had weight-loss surgery were 37% less likely to develop colorectal cancer compared to individuals with obesity who did not have the surgery.
The research was presented at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Annual Meeting and was conducted by Michal Janik et al.
The American Cancer Society estimates that this year more than 150,000 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.
Having obese or overweight increases the risk for many types of cancer including colorectal cancer, as well as other life-threatening diseases and conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
In the study, the team examined data from 13 previous studies on weight-loss surgery and colorectal cancer that followed more than 3.2 million patients for up to 10 years.
They found bariatric surgery may offer significant protection against colorectal cancer in individuals with obesity that extends at least 10 years.
The study did not account for risk factors other than obesity and did not measure weight loss or correlate findings to any particular method of weight-loss surgery.
Researchers say future studies should take into account the difference in the incidence of colorectal cancer among the different types of bariatric surgery and in patients with different durations of obesity.
The team says when doctors treat obesity with weight-loss surgery, they may also be preventing colorectal cancer at the same time, not to mention a whole host of other diseases and conditions that are improved, resolved, or prevented.
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