Obesity and cancer

BY LENA HUANG | SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Two studies on obesity and cancer released results this week. One study showed leukemia cells finding a safe haven in the fat tissue of obese mice, and the other study predicts that obesity could be the leading cause of cancer in women in the future.

The leukemia study, published online by Cancer Research, was inspired by an earlier study which showed that obese children have a 50 percent higher chance of recurrence of acute lymphoblastic leukemia than lean children. Researchers developed obese mice with leukemia and treated the mice with traditional chemotherapy used in children. Compared with the normal mice with leukemia, the obese mice had a higher relapse rate. Upon closer examination of the relapsed mice, researchers found leukemia cells hiding in the fat tissue, protected from the chemotherapy. This may explain why obese people often have poorer prognoses in not only leukemia but other cancers as well.

In the second study, European researchers found cancer could be attributed to obesity in about 124,000 cases in 2008. In men, 3.2 percent of cancers were caused by obesity, but in women the number was higher at 8.6 percent. These findings were announced at a joint meeting of the European Cancer Organization and the European Society for Medical Oncology where lead researcher Andrew Renehan, MD, said, "As more people stop smoking and fewer women take hormone replacement therapy, it is possible that obesity may become the biggest attributable cause of cancer in women in the next decade."

These studies and other research will hopefully help us understand the connection between obesity and certain cancers and will encourage more patients, survivors, and health care providers to make losing weight not just a suggestion but a prescription for fighting cancer.

Why regulation matters ... but also flexibility

For the Cure to a broken heart

Two new drugs approved, one pulled from the pipeline

Drug approved specifically for treating myelofibrosis

Erbitux Approved for Metastatic Head and Neck Cancers

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | EMAIL

VIEW

COMMENTS (1) | PRINT | SUBSCRIBE

CATEGORIES [ NEWS ]

Sebelius, don't forget cancer

BY LENA HUANG | JULY 31, 2009

Earlier this week, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, delivered a speech at the first "Weight of the Nation" conference in Washington, D.C. There she said, "And we heard from a new report that says obesity costs our health system as much as $147 billion a year, a number that has almost doubled since the last time the CDC calculated it in 1998. To put that figure in perspective, the American Cancer Society estimates that all cancers combined cost our health care system $93 billion a year. So ending obesity would save our health care system fifty percent more dollars than curing cancer."

I'm surprised that Sebelius would compare "curing cancer" to "ending obesity," as if one is more preferable over the other. While she says over two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight, we also have over 1.4 million diagnosed with cancer in a year and over 11 million survivors. When you add to those numbers friends and family impacted by cancer, that number is staggering.

She failed to mention that the ACS also says, "Scientific evidence suggests that about one-third of the 562,340 cancer deaths expected to occur in 2009 will be related to overweight or obesity, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition and thus could also be prevented." Cancer and obesity are linked, not separate. Instead of isolating one disease, fight them equally and together.

No doubt, obesity is a problem in our nation. I know it increases your risk for many diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. I also know that it can cause many physical problems as well as psychological. But for me, the "perspective" is clear. Obesity didn't kill my mother; it didn't kill my friends; cancer did. And one way we can fight it is to continue to fund research for a cure.