Association between weight loss and serum biomarkers with risk of incident cancer in the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery cohort

Bariatric surgery reduces cancer risk in populations with obesity. It is unclear if weight loss alone or metabolic changes related to bariatric surgery cause this effect. We evaluated the relationship between surgical weight loss and serum biomarker changes with incident cancer in a bariatric surgery cohort. Ten U.S. clinical facilities. The Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery 2 (LABS-2) is a prospective multicenter cohort (n = 2458, 79% female, mean age = 46). We evaluated weight and serum biomarkers, measured preoperatively and 1 year postoperatively, as predictors for incident cancer. Associations were determined using Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for weight loss, age, sex, education, and smoking history. Over 8759 person-years of follow-up, 82 patients reported new cancer diagnosis (936 per 100,000 person-years, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 749–1156). Cancer risk was decreased by approximately 50% in participants with 20% to 34.9% total weight loss (TWL) compared with 50% when weight loss exceeds 20% TWL compared with patients with