Undergoing bariatric surgery can lower the risk of severely obese individuals developing cancer by 33 percent, according to a study published in Annals of Surgery.
Researchers studied the medical information for 22,198 individuals who had bariatric surgery and 66,427 nonsurgical patients between 2005 and 2012, with follow-up through 2014. Women made up more than 80 percent of the study population.
The study shows the risk of developing any cancer dropped by 33 percent among patients who underwent bariatric surgery. Specifically, the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer dropped by 42 percent, while the risk for endometrial cancer dropped by 50 percent in severely obese patients. The risk of colon cancer was reduced by 41 percent and the risk of pancreatic cancer was lowered by 54 percent.
The National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute funded the study.