Weight Loss Surgery Linked to a Reduced Risk of Skin Cancer

Bariatric surgery and the weight loss that it induces are linked to a markedly reduced risk for skin cancer, including melanoma, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal JAMA Dermatology.

Objective: To investigate the association of bariatric surgery with skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma) and melanoma incidence.

‘Bariatric surgery in patients with obesity is associated with reduced cancer risk.’

What The Study Did: Researchers investigated the association between weight loss surgery and a subsequent diagnosis of skin cancer, including melanoma, among 4,000 obese patients in Sweden, who had the surgery or received usual treatment.

Interventions: Patients in the surgery group underwent gastric bypass (n = 266), banding (n = 376), or vertical banded gastroplasty (n = 1365). The control group (n = 2040) received the customary treatment for obesity at their primary health care centers.

Main Outcomes and Measures The SOS study was cross-linked to the Swedish National Cancer Registry, the Cause of Death Registry, and the Registry of the Total Population for data on cancer incidence, death, and emigration.

Results The study included 4047 participants (mean [SD] age, 47.9 [6.1] years; 2867 [70.8%] female). Information on cancer events was available for 4042 patients. The study found that bariatric surgery was associated with a markedly reduced risk of melanoma (adjusted sub hazards ratio, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.21-0.87; P = .02; median follow-up, 18.1 years) and risk of skin cancer in general (adjusted sub hazards ratio, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.35-0.99; P = .047). The skin cancer risk reduction was not associated with baseline body mass index or weight; insulin, glucose, lipid, and creatinine levels, diabetes, blood pressure, alcohol intake, or smoking.

Source: Eurekalert