Fecundity and Nutrient Deficiency Following Obesity Treatment: Implications for Young-Onset Cancer Risk in Offspring

Young-onset adult cancers have been an emerging problem over the last three decades in Australia [1,2], as well as globally [3]. Their aetiologies have remained unclarified. Common cancer-associated environmental factors (such as smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption) have been proposed to play a causative role in these cancers [4]. However, with a steady, or even declining, rate of similar cancers in people above the age of 50 years old, the mechanism of selective virulence of these environmental factors that contributes to young-onset carcinogenesis needs to be determined. Building on our understanding of chronic disease [5] and cancer timelines [6,7], the Perinatal and Early Life Influences on Cancer (PELICan) hypothesis was postulated [8,9] to help reconcile the variable effects of the common triggers (for carcinogenesis) on individuals.