FATTY DIET MAKES CANCER AGGRESSIVE

Obesity, or a diet high in fats, can kick-start a benign tumor into life-threatening cancer, according to new research published in the journal Cell.

In the study, scientists from Scripps Research Institute found a new enzyme, known as MAGL, that human cancer cells use to turn fat into a signaling molecule, essentially talking itself into growing larger and more dangerous.

The research means that patients recently diagnosed with cancer could be prescribed a diet low in fat to slow the growth of the cancer, also helps explain the link between cancer and obesity.

"The implication of this study are that a person with an aggressive cancer, if they are eating a diet high in fat or are obese, could exacerbate the cancer's growth," said Daniel Nomura, a co-author of the study.

Scientists have known that obesity is linked with higher rates of pancreatic, breast, kidney, esophageal, and other cancers cancers for years. Why obesity and cancer are linked is still largely a mystery, however. Various factors, such as increased acid reflux to insulin levels, explain some of the data for specific cancers, but no general, all-encompassing model linking the two has been found.

The new study doesn't completely explain the link between cancer and obesity, says Nomura, but it gives yet another explanation for the link.

The body uses fat to store excess energy that it cannot use right away. When a person works out, the body taps into those stores of fat to provide energy for, say, running legs or weight-lifting arms.