UH Cancer Center studies best way to reduce abdominal fat to lower cancer risk

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Nana Ohkawa, (808) 564-5911
Director of Communications, University of Hawaii Cancer Center
Posted: Sep 6, 2016


Dr. Kevin Cassel
Dr. Kevin Cassel
Dr. Loïc Le Marchand
Dr. Loïc Le Marchand

A new University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center study will research if specific changes in dietary habits, along with daily exercise, can reduce the amount of fat inside the abdomen to potentially decrease the risk for cancer and other diseases.

“The results from the study will help physicians develop better guidelines to get individuals to maintain or regain a healthy weight and lifestyle,” said Dr. Kevin Cassel, an assistant professor in the UH Cancer Center’s Prevention and Control Program.

Abdominal fat increases the risk of a number of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers, including those of the colon, liver, pancreas and breast. In Hawai‘i, certain ethnic groups that tend to store fat inside the abdomen are also experiencing higher rates of these very same diseases.

“Through our past research we have found that Asian men and women have a tendency to store body fat around and within internal abdominal organs,” said Dr. Loïc Le Marchand, a professor in the UH Cancer Center’s Epidemiology Program. “It could be particularly beneficial to implement the novel weight loss intervention among Japanese, Chinese and Koreans who do have high abdominal fat amounts.”

For more information about the study, call (808) 237-3901 or email lifestyle@cc.hawaii.edu.

For more information, visit: http://www.uhcancercenter.org