Adulthood weight gain tied to higher cancer risk across multiple cancers, study shows
A Swedish study of more than 600,000 people found that gaining weight in adulthood and starting adulthood with a higher weight increases overall cancer risk, with no safe age to gain weight. Early obesity (before 30) dramatically raises risks: men see a fivefold rise in liver cancer and doubles in pancreatic and kidney cancers, while women see about 4.5× higher endometrial cancer risk. Weight gain later in life also raises risk, with women showing strong links to endometrial, postmenopausal breast, and meningioma, and men to esophageal and liver cancers. Those who gained the most weight (~32 kg) faced about 7% higher cancer risk than those who gained little (~8 kg). Even modest weight gain elevates risk, underscoring the importance of maintaining a stable, healthy weight throughout adulthood, the authors say.
