LOS ANGELES, Sep 22, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. medical scientists say
obesity is an important factor contributing to chemotherapy resistance and
increasing relapse rates among children with leukemia.
Researchers led by Dr. Steven Mittelman, an assistant professor at the
University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, found obesity is
associated with increased incidence and mortality of many types of cancer and
leukemia is the most common cancer in children.
Given the increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide, the scientists said their
findings could have important implications for cancer treatment and may help
explain the increased leukemia relapse rate in obese patients.
"Obesity could increase cancer incidence and mortality through a variety of
ways," Mittelman said. "It may impair the immune system's ability to stop
cancer, or predispose cells to become cancerous. Once you have cancer, and if
you are obese, the fat cells themselves may impair the ability of chemotherapy
to fight cancerous cells."
The research appears in the online early edition of the journal Cancer Research.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International