Cancer preventability estimates for body fatness

Updated estimates of preventability (PAF%) of cancers of which body fatness is a cause by appropriate body composition, in four countries

Cancer	USA		UK		BRAZIL		CHINA
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Oesophagus	32	38	29	33	20	26	14	20
Pancreas (1)	17	20	14	16	8	13	5	10
Gallbladder	11	28	8	21	3	15	2	10
Colorectum (2)	17	15	15	13	10	11	8	9
Breast (3)	-	17	-	16	-	14	-	12
Endometrium	-	49	-	38	-	29	-	18
Kidney	20	28	17	21	10	16	6	10
Total for these cancers combined	19	21	18	18	12	15	10	14

1) CUP - Revised estimate for body fatness using Genkinger et al. Int J Cancer 2011; 129: 1708-17.

2) CUP - Revised estimate for body fatness using Adams et al. Am J Epidemiol 2007; 166: 36-45.

3) No revisions required based on CUP breast cancer report

The Second Expert Report and Continuous Update Project identified obesity as a major independent risk factor for cancer.

A separate analysis was conducted for those cancers where there is convincing or probable evidence that higher BMI increases cancer risk. The results are shown separately for men and women.

The table shows separate estimates on how much cancer could be prevented by being a healthy weight for men and women. The combined estimates for men and women were 21% for US, 18% for UK, 14% for Brazil and 13% for China.

Using numbers of new cases of cancer diagnosed annually from GLOBOCAN 2008 for both men and women combined this translates to about 101,000 cases of cancer in the USA, about 21,000 for the UK, about 13,000 for Brazil and about 103,000 for China being preventable if everyone had a healthy weight.