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full screen Obese women who underwent bariatric surgery reduced their risk of developing breast cancer. Archive image. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT
Women who underwent bariatric surgery had a lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who received other obesity treatment, according to a Swedish study.
Obesity increases the risk of many different forms of cancer, breast cancer being one of them. But women who undergo bariatric surgery reduce the risk of developing the cancer by over 30 percent.
The study is based on Swedish data on 2,876 women with obesity. Of these, half have undergone bariatric surgery. The other half have received traditional treatment such as lifestyle changes and medicines via a health centre. The women were followed for an average of 24 years.
Insulin may play a major role
The results, published in Jama Surgery, show that a total of 154 of the women developed breast cancer. But there were significantly fewer in the group that underwent bariatric surgery.
– Since breast cancer is such a common disease, it is very relevant, says Magdalena Taube, docent in molecular and clinical medicine at Sahlgrenska and one of the researchers behind the study.
Another discovery the researchers made was that women who had high insulin levels when they joined the study had even greater protection against breast cancer after surgery. They reduced their risk of breast cancer by 52 percent when they underwent bariatric surgery compared to those who did not undergo surgery.
– There are different theories about what lies behind the link between obesity and breast cancer, and insulin levels are one of the things being discussed. In this study, we can clearly show that insulin has an important role, says Magdalena Taube.
No diet pills
Keeping insulin levels down can be a way of working preventively to reduce the risk of cancer.
– When we looked at those who had low insulin levels, it turned out that the surgery makes no difference to the risk of developing breast cancer. Both the surgery group and those who had conventional obesity treatment run the same risk, says Magdalena Taube.
The patients joined the study between 1987 and 2001. It was before the new slimming drugs that Ozempic made its entrance. Researchers today do not know how weight loss with such preparations would affect the risk of breast cancer.
– But I hope that such studies are carried out in the future, says Magdalena Taube.