Taking the fat out of cancer

Researchers from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have shown that an antibody targeting endotrophin, a fat cell-derived extracellular protein, reduced growth of breast tumors in mice.¹ The team will next study the antibody in animal models of obesity-induced cancer and test a humanized version in human cancer samples.

Over the past decade, multiple epidemiological studies have shown a strong correlation between obesity, as measured by body mass index (BMI), and incidence of various solid and hematological cancers.^2-4 Moreover, animal studies have shown that adipocytes in the tumor microenvironment secrete a variety of extracellular factors, some of which influence tumor development and progression.⁵...