Young Adult Cancer: Influence of the Obesity Pandemic

OBJECTIVES: To review association of the obesity pandemic with appearance of cancers in young adults under age 50, and to define potential mechanisms by which obesity may accelerate development of malignancy. METHODS: A comprehensive narrative review was performed to integrate preclinical, clinical and epidemiologic evidence describing the association of obesity with cancer in young adults based on a search of PubMed and Google databases. RESULTS: Results from over 100 publications are summarized. Although they differ in age groups analyzed and incidence of obesity, sufficient data exists to suggest an influence of the obesity pandemic on the increase of cancer among young adults. CONCLUSION: Cancer in young adults, is occurring with increasing frequency. Overweight and obesity has become a major public health issue reaching pandemic proportions. Excess weight is associated with increased cancer risk, morbidity and mortality. Multiple murine models indicate that obesity not only increases cancer incidence, but also accelerates its development. Thus, the possibility exists that overweight and obesity may be contributing to appearance of specific malignancies at younger ages. This prospect, in association with the worldwide expansion of obesity, suggests an impending explosive increase in obesity associated cancers in young adults.