LOSE SOME WEIGHT: Fat clogs cancer-destroying cells
April 07, 2019 • 1 min read
Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK after smoking, Cancer Research UK says. A new discovery could explain why.
Researchers at Dublin’s Trinity College have discovered that a type of cell the body uses to destroy cancerous tissue gets clogged with fat and stops working. The study showed that fat molecules prevented immune cells from properly positioning their tumour-killing machinery. With fewer guns blazing, cancer cells run rampant.
Restore natural born killers
The study could help drug makers find new treatments to block the fat uptake of ‘natural killer’ cells, helping them to kill again. Sounds promising. But in the meantime, you might want to consider losing some weight, especially belly fat, which is linked to bowel, kidney, oesophageal, pancreatic, and breast cancers.
Approx. 40% of new cancer diagnoses are associated with obesity
The relationship between obesity and cancer is now clear. US figures show approximately 85,000 of new cancer cases each year are related to obesity. And the heavier you get, the greater the risk – adding 5 kg/m2 of body mass increases mortality by 10%. Conversely, studies of people who have had bariatric surgery for weight loss show reductions in cancer incidence and mortality, particularly for women.