Early obesity linked to pancreatic cancer

HOUSTON, June 24 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they have linked obesity in early adulthood to having pancreatic cancer at an earlier age.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also found obesity the year before diagnosis linked to a poorer disease outcomes.

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas case-control study enrolled 1,595 individuals. Of these, 841 were pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients treated at M.D. Anderson from 2004-2008. They were matched by age, race and sex to 754 cancer-free individuals -- the companions of M.D. Anderson patients.

Personal interviews were used to collect information such as smoking history, family cancer history and alcohol use. The participants were asked to estimate their height and body weights in their teens and each decade thereafter prior to being enrolled in the study.

"This is the first study to explore at which ages excess body weight predisposes an individual to pancreatic cancer," study corresponding author Donghui Li said in a statement.

The researchers wanted to see if there was a time period that specifically predisposes an individual to the disease, as well as the link between body mass index and overall disease survival, the study said.