Cancers related to obesity a growing concern

Iowa has a higher than national average rate of certain cancers associated with obesity, according to a new American Cancer Society report.

One-third of cancer deaths in the United States are estimated to be linked to excess body weight, poor nutrition and physical inactivity, the report said. And while the number of new cancer cases in the United States has decreased in the past two decades, rates of certain cancers associated with overweight and obese populations, including esophageal, kidney and pancreatic cancers, have increased.

In Iowa, the number of overweight and obese residents has increased by 18 percent between 1998 and 2013, the American Cancer Society said. The organization said two-thirds of Iowans fall into the overweight or obese category, which is defined as having a body mass index of 25 or greater.

The report found that from 2006 to 2011, the state had a higher rate of endometrial and kidney cancers diagnosed than the national average.

On average, 560 cases of endometrial cancer (cancer in the lining of the uterus) were diagnosed each year in the state with 100 deaths per year. Obese and overweight women are two to four times more likely to develop endometrial cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

Likewise, kidney cancer is the ninth most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the seventh most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in Iowa, while it's the 10th most commonly diagnosed cancer nationally.

On average, 605 kidney cancer cases are diagnosed each year. 170 cases resulted in death between 2006 and 2011. About 55 percent of kidney cancer diagnoses and 70 percent of kidney cancer deaths occurred among adults age 65 years or older.

Dr. Andrew Nish, medical director of the John Stoddard Cancer Center at UnityPoint Health-Des Moines, about the public, said, 'One thing they don't recognize is obesity's relationship to cancer.

'We're where we were with cigarettes 20 or 30 years ago,” he said, explaining that people did not always associate smoking with increased chances of developing lung cancer.

The report was compiled from various statewide resources by the American Cancer Society, State Health Registry of Iowa, Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Cancer Consortium.