RESUMO
Importance: Bariatric surgery has been associated with a reduced risk of cancer in individuals with obesity. The association of bariatric surgery with esophageal and gastric cancer is still controversial, however. Objective: To compare the incidence of esophageal and gastric cancer between patients with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery and those who did not (control group). Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study obtained data from a national discharge database, including all surgical centers, in France from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2017. Participants included adults (aged ≥18 years) with severe obesity who underwent bariatric surgery (surgical group) or who did not (control group). Baseline characteristics were balanced between groups using nearest neighbor propensity score matching with a 1:2 ratio. The study was conducted from March 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. Exposures: Bariatric surgery (adjustable gastric banding, gastric bypass, and sleeve gastrectomy) vs no surgery. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was incidence of esophageal and gastric cancer. A secondary outcome was overall in-hospital mortality. Results: A total of 303 709 patients who underwent bariatric surgery (245â¯819 females [80.9%]; mean [SD] age, 40.2 [11.9] years) were matched 1:2 with 605â¯140 patients who did not receive surgery (500â¯929 females [82.8%]; mean [SD] age, 40.4 [12.5] years). After matching, the 2 groups of patients were comparable in terms of age, sex, and comorbidities (standardized mean difference [SD], 0.05 [0.11]), with some differences in body mass index. The mean follow-up time was 5.62 (2.20) years in the control group and 6.06 (2.31) years in the surgical group. A total of 337 patients had esophagogastric cancer: 83 in the surgical group and 254 in the control group. The incidence rates were 6.9 per 100â¯000 population per year for the control group and 4.9 per 100â¯000 population per year for the surgical group, resulting in an incidence rate ratio of 1.42 (95% CI, 1.11-1.82; P = .005). The hazard ratio (HR) of cancer incidence was significantly in favor of the surgical group (HR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.59-0.98; P = .03). Overall mortality was significantly lower in the surgical group (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.56-0.64; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: In this large, nationwide cohort of patients with severe obesity, bariatric surgery was associated with a significant reduction of esophageal and gastric cancer incidence and overall in-hospital mortality, which suggests that bariatric surgery can be performed as treatment for severe obesity without increasing the risk of esophageal and gastric cancer.