The American Cancer Society reports that excess weight is a leading risk factor for both cancer cases and deaths, second only to smoking. Globally, about 12 to 13 percent15 of all cancer cases are thought to be attributable to obesity. Obesity itself is strongly associated with thirteen different types of cancers, including pancreatic, esophageal, renal, ovarian, and breast cancers, as well as multiple myeloma (see figure 7). Type 2 diabetes also16 increases the risk of certain cancers, by as much as double in some cases (such as pancreatic and endometrial cancers). And extreme obesity (BMI ≥
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