An intensive lifestyle intervention aimed at weight loss lowers the incidence of obesity-related cancers in adults with either overweight or obesity, and type 2 diabetes, finds an analysis of findings from the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial.
The incidence of obesity-related cancers fell by 16% for participants on the lifestyle intervention. This is the first trial to date to have evaluated the effects of such an intervention for weight loss on the risk of incident cancer or cancer mortality in adults with high body mass index (BMI) at study start, according to the results published online August 24 in the journal Obesity.
The investigators, led by Hsin-Chieh Yeh, PhD, acknowledge that the result is not statistically significant but, "this finding provided evidence that patients with obesity can reduce their cancer risk through weight loss," they write.
"Healthcare providers should be encouraged to provide [such] counseling or refer patients with obesity to intervention programs that help people manage their weight," said Yeh, associate professor of medicine, epidemiology, and oncology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, in a press release. "Moreover, establishing an environment with easier access to healthy food and physical activities is the foundation of obesity and cancer prevention."
