Cancer risk may be lowered by fat removal procedures

Surgically removing abdominal fat from obese mice reduces their risk of ultraviolet-light induce skin cancer, say researchers. However, whether this applies to humans is still unknown. UV-induced skin cancer is the most prevalent cancer in the United States and affects over 2 million individuals each year. The study is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Allan Conney, professor of Pharmacology and director of the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, explained: "We don't know what effect fat removal would have in humans. We would like to encourage epidemiologists to study whether there is a lower incidence of sunlight-induced skin cancer in people who have had liposuction surgery to remove fat tissue." For more than 10 years, Conney and his colleague Yao-Ping Lu have been investigating how exercise and caffeine reduce the risk of UV-induced skin cancer. Although caffeine consumption has been associated with a reduced risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer, researchers are still unsure as to how and why caffeine protects against the disease. In this study, researchers at Rutgers University found that obese mice who underwent liposuction had between 75-80% fewer UV-induced skin cancers than mice that didn't undergo the procedure. Findings from the study indicate that abdominal fat in mice secretes proteins that increase the risk of developing cancer. However, once the fat tissue is removed, the biochemical properties of new fat tissue are less harmful. Although physical exercise, reduced calorie diets, and low-fat diets are recommended for the treatment of obesity, preventing cancer by liposuction requires further research. Conney said: "It would be interesting to see if surgical removal of fat tissue in animals would prevent obesity-associated lethal cancers like those of the pancreas, colon and prostate. Whether removal of tissue fat in humans - which has certain risks - would decrease the risk of life-threatening cancers in humans is not known."