Gastric bypass surgery or Bariatric surgery performed to remove excess weight in obese people helps reduce the risk of cancer developing, say researchers from McGill University, Canada.  Bariatric surgery is an obesity treatment already known to reduce heart disease and diabetes.

"The relationship between obesity and many forms of cancer is well established," says Dr. Nicolas Christou, of McGill University in Toronto. "This is one of the first studies to suggest that bariatric surgery might prevent the risk of cancer for a significant percentage of morbidly obese people." The findings reported at the 25th Annual Meriting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery, showed that incidence of two of the most common tumors, breast and colon, were  reduced by 85 percent and 70 percent respectively.

"This is really powerful information," says Dr. Philip Schauer, of Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and immediate past president of the American Society of Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery. "It reaffirms that obesity is a profound risk factor for cancer" and shows "weight loss does seem to affect the development of new cancers."

Bariatric surgery is of two types, a simple inflatable silicone band placed around the stomach to reduce its capacity or the bypass where the patient’s stomach is sewn shut. The findings come at a time when the U.S. Medicare program is considering reimbursement for bariatric surgery, for its 44 million elderly and disabled health plan members.

"We're hoping that these results will help the government and public health authorities realize the importance of this procedure in the fight against the various pathologies associated with obesity,” says Dr. Schauer.