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World J Gastroenterol. May 14, 2014; 20(18): 5177-5190
Published online May 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i18.5177
Published online May 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i18.5177
Obesity and colorectal cancer: Role of adipokines in tumor initiation and progression
Silvia Riondino, Mario Roselli, Department of Systems Medicine, Medical Oncology, Tor Vergata Clinical Center, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
Raffaele Palmirotta, David Della-Morte, Patrizia Ferroni, Fiorella Guadagni, Biomarker Discovery and Advanced Technologies (BioDAT) Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana-Research Center, 00166 Rome, Italy
Author contributions: Riondino S and Roselli M contributed equally to this work; Riondino S, Roselli M, Palmirotta R, Della-Morte D, Ferroni P and Guadagni F analyzed the literature; Riondino S and Roselli M wrote the paper; all authors revised and approved the final version of the manuscript
Supported by Partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health, Grant No. MERIT RBNE08NKH7
Correspondence to: Patrizia Ferroni, MD, PhD, Biomarker Discovery and Advanced Technologies (BioDAT) Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana-Research Center, Via di Val Cannuta 247, 00166 Rome, Italy. patrizia.ferroni@sanraffaele.it
Telephone: +39-6-52253733 Fax: +39-6-52255668
Received: September 26, 2013
Revised: January 20, 2014
Accepted: March 6, 2014
Published online: May 14, 2014
Revised: January 20, 2014
Accepted: March 6, 2014
Published online: May 14, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Obesity-associated diseases account for a large portion of public health challenges, and adipose tissue can be regarded as an important and highly active player of the innate immune response, in which cytokine/adipokine secretion is responsible for a paracrine loop between adipocytes and macrophages. This interplay contributes to the systemic chronic low-grade inflammation associated with visceral obesity, which represents a favorable niche for tumor development. Available findings suggest that an unbalanced adipokine profile might serve as a prognostic factor in colorectal cancer patients and that adipokines or their analogues/antagonists might become useful agents in the management or chemoprevention of colon cancer.