India: Cancer Research Researchers Explore the Link between Obesity and Colon Cancer

Led by Dr. Manoj Kumar Bhat, a team of Indian researchers from the National Centre for Cell Science conducted studies on laboratory-bred mice to determine if obesity resulting from leptin deficiency could have any influence on cancer. The study provided valuable insights into the molecular connections underlying the relationship of diet-induced and genetics-associated obesity with colon cancer.

Delhi/India – Obesity per se does not cause cancer but the behaviour and prognosis of cancer can vary depending on whether or not the cancer patient is co-morbidly obese. Many different factors can cause obesity. One of the major reasons is genetic in nature. A mutation or small changes in the DNA can make one obese by making an important signalling pathway called the leptin signalling pathway non-functional. Leptin signalling pathway is involved in regulating food intake, energy consumption and body fat content, by mediating communication of the gut and fat cells with the brain.

To determine whether obesity resulting from leptin deficiency could have any influence on cancer, Dr. Manoj Kumar Bhat and his research team at the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) in Pune studied the differences in the incidence and progression of colon cancer when it occurs in association with genetically-linked obesity, vis-a-vis when it occurs in association with diet-induced obesity.