You’d think having anorexia nervosa was bad enough. But among all the negative effects it can have on your body, could it also increase your risk of cancer? Or does the condition perversely mimic the caloric restriction and fasting that have been demonstrated to benefit the prevention of some malignancies – meaning could it protect against cancer?

That’s what European oncology researchers wanted to find out through their systematic review and meta-analysis of a series of studies involving more than 42,000 people with the eating disorder.

The result was both encouraging and intriguing.