It’s well known that liver cancer is more common in men than in women. But why is this the case? Several studies have sought to answer this question. Recently, experts from Spain’s Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) in Madrid may have uncovered the reason behind women’s lower liver cancer prevalence: Adiponectin, a fat cell hormone that occurs at higher levels in women than in men or in obese people, who are also at high risk of developing liver cancer.
Hormones Protection at its Best
“This study provides insight into adipose tissue to liver crosstalk, and its gender relation during cancer development,” the study authors noted; further suggesting that the tissue, therefore, has “potential to guide strategies for new cancer therapeutics.”
Adiponectin expression is naturally higher in healthy women, while production of this hormone tends to decline in men after puberty. In the CNIC study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, experts used mouse models to evaluate the role of adiponectin in the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is the most common type of primary liver cancer. They found that the hormone activates two anticancer proteins in liver cells. However, in men, who have low levels adiponectin, this activation is suppressed by the reaction of testosterone on another protein, minimizing the cancer-protecting efforts of adiponectin. While the implanted HCC tumor cells grew more strongly in the male than in the female mice, no gender difference was observed in the growth of colon- or melanoma-derived tumor cells.
Potential Treatment Strategies
The protective role of adiponectin remains controversial and requires further investigation, warns the study authors. Nonetheless, this discovery could lead to new potential strategies for treating HCC.
“One approach would be to use adiponectin itself, while another option is metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes that targets the same anticancer protein as adiponectin,” said Guadalupe Sabio, PhD, one of the research authors. With liver cancer being one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths across the globe and treatment options being notably limited, the new findings from this study could be instrumental in developing new approaches to address liver cancer. “Better preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic tools are therefore urgently needed, particularly in view of the important contribution of obesity to HCC incidence worldwide” Sabio added.
HCC often occurs in people with chronic liver diseases, such as cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection. While discovering new treatment is exciting, prevention remains key. So be sure to SCREEN. VACCINATE. DON’T HESITATE!
For updates on liver cancer treatment, check out this blog on immunotherapy
To learn more about this study, read it here
