Obesity causes changes in stem cells that can result in cancers growing more aggressively, say scientists at Tulane University School of Medicine in a new study.
The Tulane team looked at the behavior of stem cells isolated in their lab from fat-tissue samples taken from plastic surgery patients.
The researchers found that stem cells from fat tissue in morbidly obese patients were much more invasive than those from lean patients, and they contribute more actively to the growth of tumors. When a tumor starts to form, these adipose-derived stem cells “home” aggressively to the tumor in response to the inflammation associated with tumor development, set up a stromal layer and feed the tumor.
Read the full, original story here: Stem cells of obese women promote the growth of breast tumors, researchers report
