Study Suggests Way to Treat Liver Cancer

Study Suggests Way to Treat Liver Cancer
By Emma Whitaker
Posted: 11/11/2010

Researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine have shown that adiponectin, a hormone produced by fat cells to regulate the body’s metabolic processes, can help detect and cure liver cancer, especially in obese patients.

Assistant Professor of Hematology Dipali Sharma and Assistant Professor of Medicine Neeraj Saxena, who studies digestive diseases, led the study, which was published in the November issue of medical journal Hepatology.

The researchers found that adiponectin levels can help predict tumor development and size, as well as probability of cancer survival. Introducing adiponectin can reduce the spread and proliferation of liver cancer cells. Treatments that imitate the effects of adiponectin could help increase chances of survival for obese liver cancer patients. Certain natural compounds, such as those found in green tea, may be one such example, according to a Nov. 5 press release.

“Our study presents important clinical implications since hepatocellular carcinoma has the highest increased risk associated with obesity compared to other cancers such as prostate, kidney, colon and stomach,” Saxena said. Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor of the liver.

Professor of Oncology Paula Vertino said the research published by her colleagues will enable doctors to screen people for levels of adiponectin and then add it back to the body.

Obesity causes the metabolism to become resistant to leptin, a hormone that normally acts as an appetite suppressant.

Adiponectin helps to counteract the effects of leptin and fat uptake within the cell, also regulating glucose levels and the breakdown of fatty acids.

The findings of the study creates implications for treatment of other diseases, such as breast cancer.

“A similar mechanism might be involved in breast cancer where a link between obesity and breast cancer incidents has been observed,” Vertino said.

The implications of this possibility are vast considering obesity’s alleged role in increasing the risk of many types of cancer, including prostate, colon, breast and liver cancer. In a Nov. 5 press release, Assistant Professor of Medicine Neeraj Saxena stressed the importance of the study because of obesity’s role in increasing risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma, one of the most common tumor types worldwide.

Vertino also stressed the benefit of interdisciplinary research.

She added that the study bridged the areas of cancer, obesity and diabetes, conducted with the collaboration between the Winship Cancer Institute and the Department of Medicine.

The research was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

— Contact Emma Whitaker.