For many years, body mass index (BMI)Trusted Source has been used as a measure of overweight and obesity. Because several cancers are linked to excess weight, physicians use BMI to help them assess a person’s cancer risk.
Now, however, a study proposes that BMI may be too crude a measure for assessing cancer risk. It suggests that where excess fat is carried on the body may be equally important in increasing or decreasing a person’s risk of developing several types of cancers.