Joint association of alcohol consumption and adiposity with alcohol- and obesity-related cancer in a population sample of 399,575 UK adults

Obesity and alcohol consumption are both important modifiable risk factors for cancer. Researchers examined the joint association of adiposity and alcohol consumption with alcohol- and obesity-related cancer incidence.
The prospective cohort study included cancer-free UK Biobank participants aged 40-69 years. Alcohol consumption was categorised based on current UK guidelines into four groups. Three markers of adiposity were defined: body fat percentage (BF %), waist circumference and BMI and categorised each into three groups. A joint alcohol consumption and adiposity marker variable with twelve mutually exclusive categories was derived.
Among 399,575 participants, 17,617 developed alcohol-related cancer and 20,214 developed obesity-related cancer over an average follow-up of 11·8 (SD 0·9) years. The study found relatively weak evidence of independent associations of alcohol consumption with cancer outcomes. However, the joint association analyses showed that across all adiposity markers, above guideline drinkers who were in the top two adiposity groups had elevated cancer incidence risk (e.g., HR for alcohol-related cancer was 1·53 (95 % CI (1·24, 1·90)) for within guideline drinkers and 1·61 (95 % CI (1·30, 2·00)) for above guideline drinkers among participants who were in the top tertile BF %. Regardless of alcohol consumption status, the risk of obesity-related cancer increased with higher adiposity in a dose-response manner within alcohol consumption categories
The researchers say that the study provides guidance for public health priorities aimed at lowering population cancer risk via two key modifiable risk factors.
Source: Inan-Eroglu E, Huang BH, Sarich P, Nassar N, Stamatakis E. Joint association of alcohol consumption and adiposity with alcohol- and obesity-related cancer in a population sample of 399,575 UK adults. Br J Nutr. 2023 Aug 14;130(3):503-512.