Energy Balance and Cancer, Epidemiology and Overview is the first in a series of monographs to address the multiple facets of the world wide pandemic of overweight and obesity and its relation to cancer. This volume, authored by leading experts in their perspective fields, provides a broad and comprehensive overview of the problem from the epidemiologic viewpoint with focus on both general and special populations as well as a description of potential molecular mechanisms and reviews of the latest studies of factors impacting the association of energy balance and cancer including the effects of genetics, caloric restriction, exercise, behavior and the built environment. The collected chapters and the authors contributing to this initial volume represent a transdisciplinary approach to analyze and develop novel approaches to understand and solve what, up to now, is a globally refractory problem. The book is written to be understandable and informative to individuals from all concerned disciplines. It should serve to orient students, investigators, nutritionists, public health officials, community planners, clinicians and policy makers to the extent of the problem, its multiple dimensions and potential approaches for research and corrective interventions.

The gastrointestinal track provides one of the distinct systems where multiple malignancies, including adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, esophagus and colon are each associated with obesity. This unique association is covered in this volume of Energy Balance and Cancer from the epidemiologic, biologic and potential etiologic viewpoint. The focus on possible dietary contribution as well as the role of exercise in prevention and therapy is presented in both animal model and patient based studies. Special focus is provided also on the role of genetic mutations and inflammatory pathways as drivers of these obesity related gastrointestinal malignancies. Overall, this volume on Energy Balance and Gastrointestinal Malignancies should be valuable to Epidemiologists, Gastroenterologists and Oncologists, as well as to students and researchers from multiple disciplines interested in understanding and disrupting the association between obesity and cancer.

​​​​This volume reviews disparities in cancer genetics, etiology, treatment and survivorship that are associated with differences in energy balance and how those differences and disparities may be affected by geography, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, biology, behavior and others. State-of-the-art strategies are outlined to alter these problems at the individual, community and policy levels. The book provides a comprehensive assessment of the multiple contributions of disparities in energy balance and how they affect cancer. this volume should constitute a valuable resource to disparity focused investigators at all levels and serves an important guide to professionals that deal with these issues, especially those who determine and implement policy.

The World Health Organization estimates that 25 percent of common cancers can be prevented through regular physical activity and weight control. Common cancers linked to overweight/obesity and a sedentary lifestyle include breast, colon, endometrium, pancreas, renal, esophageal, and several others. There are several plausible mechanisms linking lack of physical activity and increased adiposity to cancer risk, supported by results from animal experiments and human intervention studies.

This book explores in depth the relation between physical activity and cancer control, including primary prevention, coping with treatments, recovery after treatments, long-term survivorship, secondary prevention, and survival. The first part of the book presents the most recent research on the impact of physical activity in preventing a range of cancers. In the second part, the association between physical activity and cancer survivorship is addressed. The effects of physical activity on supportive care endpoints (e.g., quality of life, fatigue, physical functioning) and disease endpoints (e.g., biomarkers, recurrence, survival) are carefully analyzed. In addition, the determinants of physical activity in cancer survivors are discussed, and behavior change strategies for increasing physical activity in cancer survivors are appraised. The final part of the book is devoted to special topics, including the relation of physical activity to pediatric cancer survivorship and to palliative cancer care.

This volume of Energy Balance and Cancer provides state-of-the-art descriptions of the rapidly evolving science of epigenetics and how it may explain mechanisms by which alterations in energy balance such as obesity and physical activity may impact cancer. In addition to chapters explaining the processes mediating epigenetic regulation, the volume contains a series of chapters explaining how environmental influences including early life events, nutrition, exercise and microbiota may induce epigenetic changes that can affect carcinogenesis. The following chapters describe epigenetic relations of energy balance to cancer in distinct organ systems including esophagus, colon, prostate and breast. Epigenetics, Energy Balance and Cancer provides a valuable resource for students, research investigators and clinicians seeking to better understand these processes as well as a basis for novel translational and transdisciplinary approaches to further elucidate these processes and develop preventive and therapeutic strategies.