Clogged Immune Cells Show Link Between Cancer and Obesity

Posted by Lewisville Flower Mound Oncology Group on April 29th, 2019

Obesity is affecting about two-thirds of American adults according to the National Institutes of Health. It has been linked to several conditions including hypertension, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. It is also linked to particular cancers including liver, endometrial, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. About 40 percent of new cancer diagnoses are interrelated with diabetes. Many theories abound as to the relationship and one suggests that because fat cells give off growth factors and hormones that instruct cells to divide, the chances of cancer cell production increase too.

Obesity continues to affect larger numbers and it is imperative to understand its involvement with cancer to keep it from worsening the situation and causing other diseases. Researchers carried out a study to establish the exact link between obesity and cancer and the study was as follows:

•    The study looked at immune surveillance, a process where the immune system seeks out any cancerous and precancerous cells and destroys them before they can cause any damage. It focused on the white blood cells tasked to fight cancer cells, known as natural killer cells or NK.

•    In obese individuals, the NK cells were plugged with fat. The fighter cells were able to locate and bind to tumor cells. They were however unable to destroy the cancer cells.

•    Some of the experiments led to them identifying the particular metabolic step that fat accumulation hampers. The researchers then gave the cells a metabolic reawakening which caused a reignition of the cells’ destruction of cancer.

This study found and altered the inner workings of clogged up cancer-fighting cells. It shows that it is possible to stop the action of fat on cancer to improve treatment. With this knowledge, researchers can now come up with more strategies and interventions that will prove useful to the fight against cancer among those living with obesity.

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Lewisville/Flower Mound Oncology Group, a division of Choice Cancer Care – is an independently owned and operated oncology practice that is completely focused on unique, comprehensive patient care.