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REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1579876
Obesity, overweight and breast cancer: new clinical data and implications for practice
Provisionally accepted
Laura García-Estévez 1*
Marta González-Rodríguez 1 Isabel Calvo 1 Alberto Orta 1 María Gión 2
Gema Moreno Bueno 3 José Manuel Pérez-García 4 Javier Cortés 4- 1 MD Anderson Cancer Center Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 2 Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 3 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red del Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 4 International Breast Cancer Center (IBCC), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Excess bodyweight has negative consequences in breast cancer (BC) patients, significantly increasing the incidence of BC and adversely affecting clinical outcomes in most BC subtypes. This article overviews recent evidence relating to excess bodyweight (particularly obesity) and its effect on treatment in women with BC, focusing on latest evidence, including clinical findings from recently introduced new therapeutic entities. There is evidence of an inverse relationship between obesity and BC in premenopausal women highlighting a complex interplay involving the tumor microenvironment and tumor cells, and patient factors such as hormonal/metabolic/inflammatory status. Advancements in targeted-and immune-therapy have brought renewed optimism for women with BC. Ultimately, a better understanding of the mechanistic link between adipogenicity and tumorigenicity in breast tissues, as well as how obesity and adipose tissue inflammation interact with female sex hormones, may prove to be an important area for further refinements in our quest to develop a truly personalized therapeutic approach in this clinical setting.
Keywords: Leptin, breast cancer, Bodyweight, Obesity, microenvironment
Received: 19 Feb 2025; Accepted: 07 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 García-Estévez, González-Rodríguez, Calvo, Orta, Gión, Moreno Bueno, Pérez-García and Cortés. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Laura García-Estévez, MD Anderson Cancer Center Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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