Research project examines link between obesity, cancer

Scientists hope to understand this connection better and determine if it may lead to new cancer prevention tools.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Nov. 14, 2005.

The National Cancer Institute has launched the Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer initiative, a major effort to investigate exactly how obesity increases the risk of cancer and determine what interventions will reduce its impact.

"NCI is determined to help avoid an increase in cancer deaths in the 21st century due to obesity like the one caused by tobacco in the 20th century," said Robert Croyle, PhD, director of the institute's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences.

The association between obesity and cancer is long established. Most recently, a study published in the Oct. 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research found that obese men successfully treated for prostate cancer were more likely to have their cancer recur than those who did not carry excess weight. That risk was higher if the men had a history of rapid weight gain.

But exactly how this link works and what can be done about it is a mystery. Thus, NCI will provide $54 million in funding to four centers over the next five years to uncover answers.

"We're looking at why there might be a relationship, what the mechanism might be and [how to] determine what people have to do to reduce their risk," said Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, one of the principal investigators and director of the Prevention Center at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The center is also coordinating the projects.

Researchers will investigate the impact of excess sugar on cell growth and hunt for molecular markers that can measure a person's weight-associated risk of cancer. The goal is that this eventually will enable physicians to test for it to determine what a patient's risk is and track how it changes over time.