The National Cancer Policy Forum convened a public workshop to examine the role of obesity in cancer survival and recurrence, to examine potential interventions, and to identify gaps in current knowledge.
Obesity rates have been steadily climbing over recent decades, with significant implications for public health. Although this trend is most frequently discussed in terms of increased risks for conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, there are also implications for the incidence of cancer as well as the outcomes for patients diagnosed with cancer. Epidemiological evidence shows that people who are obese or overweight are at increased risk of developing some types of cancer, and obesity may also affect tumor progression for many cancers.
Because obesity results from an energy imbalance – that is, energy intake is higher than what is consumed in external work and other bodily means of energy expenditure –interventions to restore energy balance have the potential to improve outcomes for patients with cancer. However, much is still unknown about how to effectively intervene, who is mostly likely to benefit from obesity-targeted interventions, when to intervene, or where to intervene.
Workshop presentations and discussions examined the role of obesity and weight gain in the promotion of various cancers, mechanisms by which obesity may influence cancer progression, strategies for breaking the energy balance-cancer progression link, and potential ways to intervene to improve outcomes for patients with cancer.
Confirmed Speakers and Panelists
Rachel Ballard-Barbash, National Cancer Institute
Nathan Berger, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Dean Brenner, ASCO and University of Michigan
Angela Brodie, University of Maryland
Kerry Courneya, University of Alberta
Andrew Dannenberg, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, University of Alabama at Birmingham
John DiGiovanni, The University of Texas at Austin
Diana Dyer, CancerRD.com
Patricia Ganz, University of California, Los Angeles
Susan Gapstur, American Cancer Society
Pamela Goodwin, Mount Sinai Hospital University of Toronto
Stephen Hursting, The University of Texas at Austin
Madhuri Kakarala, University of Michigan
Derek LeRoith, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Jennifer Ligibel, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Anne McTiernan, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Jeffrey Meyerhardt, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Lori Minasian, National Cancer Institute
Kate Murphy, Fight Colorectal Cancer
Martin Murphy, CEO Roundtable on Cancer
Linda Nebeling, National Cancer Institute
Ed Partridge, American Cancer Society
Elizabeth A. Platz, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Cheryl Rock, University of California – San Diego
Thomas Wadden, University of Pennsylvania
Jo Anne Zujewski, National Cancer Institute
Planning Committee Members
Wendy Demark-Wahnefried (chair), University of Alabama at Birmingham
Rachel M. Ballard-Barbash, National Cancer Institute
Thomas G. Burish, Notre Dame University
Patricia A. Ganz, University of California, Los Angeles
Pamela J. Goodwin, Mount Sinai Hospital University of Toronto
Stephen D. Hursting, University of Texas at Austin
Martin J. Murphy, CEO Roundtable on Cancer
Lisa C. Richardson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention