DietBB Seminar Series with Mazda Jenab from IARC (France)

November 29, 2021

Exploring the Roles of Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction and Cancer Development

Overweight and obesity are defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. Substantial and widespread increases in overweight and obesity have been observed worldwide. The global increase over time is steady. However, some variation in the rate of increase has been observed in different countries with the same base level of obesity, suggesting that the rates of increase can be modified, likely by uptake of healthier dietary and lifestyle patterns.

Obesity development is multifactorial, with multiple environmental, social, genetic and physiological determinants but unhealthy dietary and lifestyle patterns appear to be key. Obesity has considerable metabolic consequences which are thought to underlie dramatic increases in the incidence of various cancers that have been observed over the past several decades in many world regions. The cancer promoting effects of hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia and inflammation have been studied in-depth. But unhealthy diets and obesity may influence cancer development through additional mechanisms such as modulating the microbiome and altering the integrity of the colonic mucosal and epithelial barriers which, in their healthy states, are vital for allowing the absorption of nutrients while at the same time limiting the passage of bacterial toxins and translocation into the portal circulation. In their dysfunctional state, they expose colonocytes and hepatocytes to cancer promotive toxins and bacterial products. High levels of hepatic steatosis are another metabolic consequence of obesity which may promote inflammation and perturbations in bile acid metabolism, hence promoting cancer development.

This presentation will focus on lifestyle and dietary factors in the development of gastrointestinal cancers, highlighting the promoting role of obesity and metabolic dysfunction with recent findings from the prospective EPIC cohort.

Online Event (Zoom)
Meeting-ID: 926 3567 7286 - Code: 206198

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