Adiposity and Adipokines: Roles in the Local Spread of Cancer and in the Metastasis Development 2.0

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our 2020 Special Issue “Adiposity and Adipokines: roles in the local spread of cancer and in the metastasis development.”

A heterogeneous population of cells in the microenvironment surrounding tumor cells is responsible for the release of a large number of factors that are important for cancer spread and metastasis, highlighting the importance of tumor–microenvironment cross-talk in influencing tumor progression. In this context, adipocytes assume a relevant role thanks to their ability to produce different factors (i.e., adipokines, cytokines, and chemokines); among them, leptin, adiponectin, resistin, autotaxin, and IL6 are significant signals arising from tumor stroma, involved in the initiation and progression of cancer. Adipokines released close to several types of cancer (breast, prostate, colon, renal, ovarian, and gastric), promote growth, invasion, metastasis of tumor cells, as well as angiogenesis. Moreover, the up- or down-regulation of miRNAs in cancer cells appears as another mechanism by which adipokines may exert oncogenic or anti-tumor effects.

Of note, bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) takes on a peculiar role and it is now considered an important contributor to cancer progression in bone metastasis. Besides producing a plethora of adipokines, the release of extracellular vesicles from BMAT may influence cells in the surrounding area.

Hypertrophic adipose tissue leads to adipocyte metabolic disorders, which lead to the production of abnormal levels of adipokines, a condition that favors cancer progression and metastasis. The role of adipocytes and adipose tissue in the metastatic microenvironment remains an important question to explore: a more detailed knowledge of the link(s) between adiposity and cancer development is needed to find new targets to counteract cancer local invasion and metastasis.

This Special Issue aims to collect recent results regarding the link between adiposity and cancer development and spread and to focus on the potential of adipokines and their signaling pathways as targets in cancer therapy. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Paola Maroni
Dr. Paola Bendinelli
Guest Editors

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• cancer
• metastasis
• tumor microenvironment
• adipocytes
• adipokines
• obesity
• miRNAs
• extracellular vesicles
• therapy
• intracellular signalling