The eight additional types of cancer identified are -stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, ovary , meningioma (a type of brain tumour), thyroid cancer and the blood cancer multiple myeloma.
The findings are based on a review of more than 1,000 studies of excess weight and cancer risk analysed by WHO’s International Agency for Cancer on Research. “Many of the newly identified cancers have not been on people’s radar screens as having a weight component,” said Graham Colditz, who chaired the IARC working group. About 640 million adults and 110 million children are obese worldwide.
“Lifestyle factors such as eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising, in addition to not smoking, can have a significant impact on reducing cancer risk,” Colditz said. For most of the cancers on the list, the experts noted a positive dose-response relationship: higher the body-mass index, the greater the cancer risk.