In a new study, researchers found that the risk of colon cancer may be increased in individuals who have undergone weight loss surgery.
The research was conducted by a team at Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden and elsewhere.
Although colorectal cancer is associated with obesity, it is unclear if weight loss surgery impacts the incidence of these tumors.
In the study, the team examined 502,772 individuals with obesity from five Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
They found patients who underwent weight-loss surgery had a higher risk of colon cancer than the general population.
This risk seemed to increase over time, and it exceeded the elevated risk of obese individuals without such surgery.
The association between weight loss surgery and rectal cancer was weaker, but it tended to increase with longer follow-up.
The lead author of the study is Wenjing Tao.
The study is published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.