The Association Between Adiposity and Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Multiple studies confirm the impact of obesity on high incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC). There is a common perception that adiposity and related metabolic dysfunctions result in worse prognosis and decreased survival among patients with a CRC diagnosis. Several epidemiologic studies confirm this observation, however the results are not always consistent, probably due to different techniques used for evaluating the degree of adiposity. Many authors suggest that the most adequate method for assessing this parameter is computer tomography of the abdomen which allows to precisely quantify the amount of adipose tissue. Excess adipose tissue is considered a metabolically active organ releasing numerous adipohormones and cytokines that stimulate chronic inflammation, insulin resistance and contribute to increased cell proliferation. However, adiposity biomarker expression are well-documented risk factors for CRC development, little is known about their prognostic value in this disease.