Bariatric Surgery cuts Risk of Uterine Cancer: Study

Overweight women who undergo bariatric surgeries have reduced risk of uterine cancer, according to a new study.

Obesity is known to cause a string of deadly health conditions like heart diseases, diabetes, cancer and particularly uterine cancer. According to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention data, about 40,000 Americans are diagnosed with uterine cancer and 8,000 women succumb to the disease.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moore Cancer Center investigated medical and health records of 7,431,858 patients from the University Health System Consortium database. About, 103,797 patients reportedly underwent bariatric surgery and 44,345 were diagnosed with uterine cancer.

 It was found that the chances of developing uterine cancer in women who underwent bariatric surgery went down by 71 percent. Women who retained a balanced body weight post their surgery were 81 percent less likely to develop the disease.

The authors believe a number of biological mechanisms like increased fat in tissues can alleviate estrogen levels that result in growth of tumors and metastasis. Obesity induces inflammation in the endometrial region of the uterus, raises estrogen levels and insulin resistance.  

"The majority of endometrial cancers are estrogen-driven. In a normal menstruating woman, two hormones control the endometrium (inner lining of the uterus). Estrogen builds up the endometrium and progesterone stabilizes it. A woman with excess adipose tissue has an increased level of estrogen because the fat tissue converts steroid hormones into a form of estrogen," Kristy Ward, study author and the senior gynecologic oncology fellow in the Department of Reproductive Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine said in the news release.

 "So there is too much estrogen, causing the endometrium to build up, but not enough progesterone to stabilize it," he continued

Bariatric surgery brings down the hormones to normal levels, reduces inflammation in the uterus and cuts down insulin resistance. The surgery resizes the abdominal region by resecting a part of the stomach using a constrictive gastric band and leading small intestines to a small sac. Patients whose BMI rates are 40 and above or patients with BMI of 35 along with one of the conditions like diabetes, heart muscle disease and joint diseases are eligible to undergo bariatric surgery.

Usually this surgery is conducted as a last option for patients who have not been able to achieve sufficient weight loss through non-surgical procedures.

"The obesity epidemic is a complicated problem. Further work is needed to define the role of bariatric surgery in cancer care and prevention, but we know that women with endometrial cancer are more likely to die of cardiovascular causes than they are of endometrial cancer. It's clear that patients who are overweight and obese should be counseled about weight loss, and referral to a bariatric program should be considered in patients who meet criteria," Ward adds.