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WASHINGTON (AP) - Fatty tissue may decrease the body's ability to kill off cancer, says a study that found making mice leaner — through exercise or surgery — seemed to help them fight skin tumors.
Scientists have long known that people who are overweight are at increased risk of certain types of cancer. The question is why, and whether slimming down will lower that risk or do any good after a tumor forms.
Rutgers University scientists took a closer look at that question using mice engineered to get skin cancer, and reported Monday that fat cells may secrete substances that short-circuit one of the body's main anti-tumor defenses.
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