Prevent Disease.com - Obesity, Inactivity May Up Pancreatic Cancer Risk



		Obesity, Inactivity May Up Pancreatic Cancer Risk NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obesity and physical inactivity contribute to the risk of cancer of the pancreas, researchers from Canada report. The body becomes less sensitive to the glucose-lowering effects of insulin with obesity and inactivity, and diminished sensitivity to insulin leads to higher blood levels of insulin. According to Dr. Anthony J. G. Hanley from Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto and associates, higher levels of insulin are thought to increase the risk of cancer of the pancreas. But previous attempts to link inactivity and obesity with pancreatic cancer brought inconsistent results. Hanley and colleagues, therefore, used the Canadian National Enhanced Cancer Surveillance System to explore the relationship between these factors and cancer of the pancreas in 312 pancreatic cancer patients and a comparison group of more than 2,900 healthy individuals. The investigators used body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight in relation to height, to determine whether or not patients were obese. Men and women with high BMI faced a pancreatic cancer risk 1.5 to 2 times higher than those with low BMI, the authors report. Dieting, however, apparently lowered the risk, the report indicates, as both men and women who reported a 10% to 12.5% decrease from their maximum lifetime weight had only about half the risk of cancer of the pancreas faced by others. Exercise, at least for men, lowered the risk. The researchers note that men who exercised strenuously at least 8 hours a month had only 59% of the pancreatic cancer risk of men who exercised less. ``The results of the present study support previous findings suggesting that obesity is associated with risk of pancreatic cancer,'' Hanley and colleagues write. ``Additionally, we have presented evidence indicating a protective role of physical activity in the (development) of pancreatic cancer,'' they report. The researchers conclude that ``these results lend further support to the hypothesis that insulin resistance is important in the (development) of pancreatic cancer.'' SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer 2001;94:140-147. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".