Obesity and mortality from cancer.

Laboratory investigators have long known that animals in which energy intake is reduced to about 60 percent of the intake of animals that are fed as much as they want have a considerably lower incidence of cancer than the control animals. This finding apparently holds true for viral, chemical, and even spontaneous carcinogenesis. Evidence from studies in humans has been largely compatible with these laboratory findings and is applicable to a wide spectrum of sites and types of tumors. Yet this evidence has not stimulated the development of programs to prevent cancer by weight control. There are several reasons for . . .