Research
Hormonal
Adipokines, specifically leptin and adiponectin, play opposing roles in cancer development, with leptin promoting tumor growth and adiponectin offering protection.
Obesity alters hormone secretion from fat cells: it increases leptin (which fuels cancer) and decreases adiponectin (which protects against cancer). Weight loss helps restore this balance.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Higher leptin levels can be a factor for fostering cancer development and progression since it is now known to be mitogenic, proinflammatory, antiapoptotic, and proangiogenic... Adiponectin... is particularly interesting because it enhances insulin sensitivity, and its circulating levels are inversely related to cancer occurrence and cancer stage
Why this rating
Supported by multiple case-control and prospective studies.
Source
Obesity as a Major Risk Factor for Cancer
Giovanni De Pergola et al. · Journal of Obesity · 2013
DOI 10.1155/2013/291546
narrative_reviewCited 951×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Obesity is a major risk factor for cancer, accounting for approximately 20% of all malignancies, with the strongest evidence linking it to endometrial, esophageal adenocarcinoma, colorectal, postmenopausal breast, prostate, and renal cancers.Strong
- Hyperinsulinemia and elevated Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) levels, driven by obesity and insulin resistance, promote cancer cell growth, proliferation, and metastasis.Strong
- Weight loss, particularly through bariatric surgery or intentional lifestyle changes, significantly reduces the incidence of obesity-related cancers.Good
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