Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205, USA.
Eur J Cancer Prev. 2011 Nov;20(6):539-48. doi: 10.1097/CEJ.0b013e328348fc21.
The dramatic rise in worldwide prevalence of obesity has necessitated the search for more efficacious antiobesity strategies to counter the increased cancer risks in overweight and obese individuals. The mechanistic pathways linking obesity status with adult chronic diseases such as cancer remain incompletely understood. A growing body of evidence suggests that novel approaches and interventional agents to disrupt the feed-forward cycle of maternal to offspring obesity transfer that is initiated in utero will be important for stemming both the obesity pandemic and the associated increase in cancer incidence. The convergence of multiple research areas including those encompassing the insulin and insulin-like growth factor systems, epigenetics, and stem cell biology is providing insights into the potential for cancer prevention in adult offspring previously exposed to the intrauterine environment of overweight/obese mothers. Here, we review the current state of this nascent research field, with a focus on three major cancers, namely breast, colorectal, and liver, and suggest some possible future directions to optimize its impact for the health of future generations.
全球肥胖患病率的急剧上升，使得人们迫切需要寻找更有效的抗肥胖策略，以应对超重和肥胖人群癌症风险的增加。肥胖状态与癌症等成人慢性疾病之间的机制途径仍不完全清楚。越来越多的证据表明，打破肥胖代际传递的反馈循环的新方法和干预手段对于阻止肥胖流行和相关癌症发病率的增加将非常重要。包括胰岛素和胰岛素样生长因子系统、表观遗传学和干细胞生物学在内的多个研究领域的融合，为了解先前暴露于超重/肥胖母亲子宫内环境的成年后代的癌症预防提供了新的思路。在这里，我们回顾了这一新兴研究领域的现状，重点介绍了三种主要癌症，即乳腺癌、结直肠癌和肝癌，并提出了一些可能的未来方向，以优化其对后代健康的影响。
