Two Hidden Cancer Causes: Diabetes and Obesity

According to a new study, nearly 6 percent of cancers are attributable at least in part to obesity and diabetes.

Researchers compared incidence data for 12 cancers in 175 countries in 2012 with body mass index and diabetes prevalence figures from 2002, on the assumption that it takes at least ten years for cancer to develop.

They found that in 2012, diabetes and a B.M.I. above 25 were independent risk factors for 792,600 new cases of cancer, about 5.6 percent of the 14,067,894 cases reported to a worldwide cancer registry.

Among the cancers associated with diabetes and high B.M.I. were tumors of the colon, gallbladder, liver and pancreas. Obesity and diabetes weren’t the only causes of these cancers, but the conditions played a role.