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Researchers explore mechanisms that may link obesity and cancer.

As obesity’s ties to multiple cancers strengthen, a new study suggests that inflammation may be the primary culprit in at least one malignancy: liver cancer. The Cell study, published January 22, found that high levels of interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor, which are associated with obesity, turned healthy cells into malignant ones through chronic low-grade inflammation of the liver. Using knockout mice to unravel the mechanism, Michael Karin, Ph.D., and his team at the University of California, San Diego, concluded that enhanced production of these signaling molecules during obesity leads to persistent infl ammation, which activates STAT3, a tumor-promoting transcription factor. That, in turn, causes proliferation of aberrant hepatic cells and leads to hepatocellular carcinoma. Similar mechanisms may underlie, and perhaps markedly increase, the risk for pancreatic, gastrointestinal, and kidney cancers as well, according to Karin. Epidemiological studies show associations with obesity and at least fi ve different cancers: colon, postmenopausal breast, endometrial, kidney, and esophageal. Excessive weight plays a suspected role in other cancers and recently has been implicated as a risk factor for poor survival in several of them, including prostate, breast, and colon.