Unraveling the obesity and breast cancer links: a role for cancer-associated adipocytes?

In addition to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, epidemiological evidence demonstrates that people who are obese or overweight are at increased risk of developing cancer - colon, breast (in postmenopausal women), endometrial or kidney cancer being among the most frequent. In addition to the increase in tumor occurrence, obesity also affects tumor prognosis, especially in breast and prostate cancers. In breast cancer, obesity is associated with reduced survival and increased recurrence independent of menopausal status.