Weight loss surgery, or in medical terms gastric bypass surgery, appears to have more benefits than previously believed.

Besides making obese people feel light, better about themselves, slowing down their heart disease, diabetes, or other conditions (to which obesity has contributed) the surgery was also found effective in blocking cancer in some people, according to a new study by researchers at McGill University in Montreal.

Dr. Nicolas Christou, director of bariatric surgery and professor of surgery at McGill presented the study at the annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric surgery in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

Dr. Cristou and his colleagues compared data of 1,035 obese patients who had bariatric surgery from mid-’80 to 2002 and data of 5,746 obese patients who did not have surgery. They surprisingly found that patients undergoing bypass surgery lost an average of 67 percent of their excess body weight, cutting their risk of developing cancer by 80 percent, which Dr. Christou called “the icing on the cake.” Breast and colon cancer saw the most dramatic decrease, with 85 percent, respectively 70 percent.

The findings highlights once again what researchers have long sustained, namely that obesity is a profound risk of cancer. And with the high rates of obesity registered in the U.S. lately, the rates of conditions related to obesity are also on the rise, with many people losing their lives in the fight with the extra pounds.

According to a study released in July last year by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Human Nutrition, by 2015, 75 percent of American adults will be overweight and 41 percent obese. Only 13 percent of American adults were obese in 1960 and 32 percent in 2004. Where are we heading?