Excess body weight (overweight and obesity) currently concerns nearly one in two French adults. It is associated with an increased risk of several primary cancers, including postmenopausal breast cancer.

Researchers at an Inra-Inserm-Cnam-Université Paris 13 joint research unit, part of NACRe⁽¹⁾, worked with a team from Imperial College London to carry out the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the results of prospective studies on the relationship between excess body weight and the risk of second cancers following breast cancer.

Their results show that obesity at diagnosis of a first breast cancer increases the risk of developing a second cancer in the same or other breast, in the endometrium or the colon/rectum. The results stress the importance of implementing preventive measures to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity.

(1) NACRe (the French food and cancer research network)

Photo:

© Inserm/T.Depardieu via Serimedis.