Abstract
Diets geared to reduce cancer risk in overweight and obese individuals focus on (1) caloric restriction (every day, some days, or most hours of each day); (2) changes in macronutrient intake; or (3) a combination of the prior two strategies. Diets generally fail because of nonadherence or due to limited sustained weight loss. This is in contrast to a diet supplemented with a weight loss medication, so long as the participant continues the medication or after bariatric surgery, in which adherence tends to be much higher. Among individuals who regain weight after surgery, weight loss medications are proving beneficial in maintaining weight loss. Both maximum and sustained weight loss are essential for all forms of effective metabolic improvement, including cancer risk reduction. The focus of this report is to assess the state of research on the consequence of pharmacotherapy use on weight loss and proposed weight loss-independent effects on subsequent cancer risk reduction, including the potential role of medication use in conjunction with metabolic (bariatric) surgery (MBS). Finally, we present Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to better understand the mechanism(s) that are driving the efficacy of pharmacotherapy in cancer risk reduction.