Role of Obesity-Induced Inflammatory Cytokines on Breast Cancer & Therapeutics

According to WHO, obesity, a global pandemic, is an important cause of cancer. Obesity-induced adipose tissue expansion is associated with infiltration of immune cells which causessecretion of adipokines, chemokines, cytokines like IL-1,2,6,8, TNF-α, etc. The purpose of thisstudy is to provide a comprehensive review of the effects of obesity-induced inflammatorycytokines on breast cancer while discussing available therapeutics & chemotherapy in thetreatment of breast cancer. We discussed the identification of inflammatory biomarkers releasedby adipose tissue, and alterations in their pathway in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. Our studyhelps in improving diagnostic accuracy, identifying targets of therapy, and suggesting usefullifestyle behaviors for this aspect. We conducted our research in PubMed to identify relevantjournal articles published within the last 10 years. We extracted pertinent data and discussedmajor signaling pathways regulated by inflammatory cytokines and adipokines in mediatingbreast cancer. Obesity involves different changes that may contribute to the development ofbreast cancer, such as excess inflammatory cytokines and chronic inflammation,hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and raised leptin and estrogens. It leads to a low-gradechronic inflammatory state in the body, which leads to increased estrogen and aromatase,increased growth proliferation, and angiogenesis. All of these contribute to the development ofbreast cancer, mostly ductal breast cancer and ER-positive breast cancer. Leptin antagonist,Adiponectin agonists, aromatase inhibitors, and lipid-lowering drugs have shown favorable resultsin the treatment of breast cancer. Metformin inhibits the IL-6 mRNA expression and activatesthe IL-1R expression which acts as an anti-inflammatory cytokine. In breast cancer cells,Metformin interferes with mTOR pathway signaling and decreases the expression of HER-2protein. Weight loss with exercise and reduced calorie intake reduces the risk of breast cancer inboth premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Early detection using “biomarkers” shows apromising improvement in the survival rate.