Abstract
Overweight and obesity are health problems of epidemic proportions, increasing the risk not only of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus but also of various types of cancer. Obesity is strongly associated with changes in the physiological function of adipose tissue, leading to insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and altered secretion of adipokines. Several of these factors, such as insulin resistance, increased levels of leptin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and endogenous sex steroids, decreased levels of adiponectin, and chronic inflammation, are involved in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. This article reviews these mechanisms, focusing on adipose tissue dysfunction as a unifying causal factor. Although understanding of the link between obesity and cancer might provide therapeutic targets, preventing overweight and obesity still remains number one priority. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(10):2569–78)
Footnotes
Grant support: Grant from the Leatare Foundation, Monaco, and the Catharijne Foundation, the Netherlands.
- Received April 20, 2009.
- Revision received July 7, 2009.
- Accepted August 10, 2009.
Volume 18, Issue 10
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- Article
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Obesity and Cancer Epidemiology
- Dysfunctional Adipose Tissue
- Obesity and Cancer: Pathophysiological Mechanisms
- Insulin Resistance
- Adipokines
- Inflammation
- Sex Steroids
- Other Proposed Mechanisms
- Concluding Remarks
- Search Strategy and Selection Criteria
- Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
- Acknowledgments
- Footnotes
- References
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