Connecting the dots: obesity, fatty acids and cancer

Obesity is becoming recognized as a common co-morbidity with several disease states including cancer. There is tremendous interest to more fully understand the mechanistic connections between obesity and cancer. This commentary highlights the report by Byon et al in this issue of Laboratory Investigation. It provides an interpretation of their results in the context of other disease states involving obesity and its sequelae of excess fatty acids and increased plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) concentrations. This includes obesity-related conditions, in particular metabolic syndrome, and its subphenotypes such as insulin resistance, and increased risk of myocardial infarction. The potential mechanistic tie-ins of obesity, elevated concentrations of fatty acids, as well as elevated PAI-1 levels with cancer and its risk for aggressiveness are discussed.