Scientists studied the relation between obesity and cancer
A metabolic tug-of-war.
Tumor cells are marked in cyan and CD8+ T cells mark in red. On the top is a tumor from an animal on a normal diet. On the bottom is a tumor from an animal on a high-fat diet. There are significantly fewer CD8+ T cells in the obese tumor.
Credit: Ringel et al, 2020
Obesity is responsible for various diseases, including cancer, as well as worse prognosis and survival. In many studies, scientists have studied obesity-related processes that cause tumor growth, like metabolic changes and chronic inflammation, yet the interplay between obesity and cancer has remained elusive.