Study shows obesity can increase risk of pancreatic cancer

Each year almost 30,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. About the same number of people are killed by it. Pancreatic cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. A study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that people who are significantly overweight and engage in little physical activity have a substantially higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Researchers found that people classified as obese were 72 percent more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than people of normal weight. They also found that men and women who walk or hike four or more hours per week had a 50 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer than those who exercise less than 20 minutes per week. Researchers add that this research should promote insights into the basic causes of pancreatic cancer. A better understanding of the causes of pancreatic cancer could provide better therapeutic approaches to the disease.