Weight-loss surgery slashes cancer risk and mortality

According to a new study presented at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Annual Meeting, individuals with obesity were at least two times more likely to develop certain types of cancer and 3.5 times more likely to die from the disease than those who had weight-loss surgery.

Researchers found that after having weight-loss surgery, patients saw big reductions in the incidence of breast cancer, gynecologic cancer, kidney cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer and thyroid cancer.

The 10-year incidence of any new cancer in the bariatric group was much lower and the 10-year survival rate was much higher than the non-surgical group. The retrospective study included 1,620 patients who had either gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy. Researchers estimated that surgery patients lost about 60% of their excess weight at 10 years.

Therefore, the researchers concluded by saying that weight-loss surgery has proven to be the most effective long-term treatment for obesity and now it's increasingly being looked upon as a preventative treatment, not only for cancer, but heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes too.