Obesity, which is increasing worldwide, is known to increase a person’s risk of many health conditions. The amount of fat tissue that an individual has is often proxied using body mass index (BMI). BMI is cheap to measure and can be an effective measure of overall fat tissue when used at a population level. However, BMI cannot capture the full complexity of the distribution of fat tissue across the body. Recent research has highlighted that fat tissue at different locations throughout the body can have vastly different consequences for heart and blood outcomes, with more central fat tissue having negative consequences and more thigh and buttock fat tissue being beneficial. Whether similar effects of fat tissue distribution are also seen in cancer outcomes, particularly for cancers where there is a known link with obesity, is not yet unknown.
We aim to use ALSPAC data to gain a deeper understanding of the link between fat tissue distribution throughout the body and cancer risk. We will evaluate whether fat tissue distribution affects cancer risk and levels of certain molecular traits measured in blood samples at different ages using the latest statistical methods.
The proposed research will increase our understanding of how fat tissue distribution affects cancer risk. We will also unpick the potential biological mechanisms explaining these relationships and determine at what age the relationships may begin.