Adipocytes as a Risk Factor for Metastasis in Patients with Gastric Cancer and Normal Weight

The aim of the study was to evaluate how of cancer-associated adipocyte (CAAs) density affect the availability of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow (BM) of patients with gastric cancer (GC) at normal weight (BMI<25) as a manifestation of the process of metastasis. Excess of CAA density in tumors leads to instability of the tumor microenvironment stipulating the ability of tumor cells to disseminate with potency to form the metastasis. But such studies are mostly related to obesity and little is known about the possible the effect of CAAs on metastasis in patients at BMI <25 in particular with GC. Patients with GC were enrolled into the study and immunohistochemical methods of tumor tissue examinations were used. It was found that in patients with GC at BMI<25 having tumors characterized by excess of CAAs, frequency of DTC availability in BM was increased with a statistically significant probability (P <0.05). Obtained data have shown high risk of metastasis in patients with GC at BMI <25 who have tumors with high content of CAAs. Understanding the mechanisms of metabolic symbiosis between cancer cells and CAAs in GC patients at BMI<25 would be clinical relevance and warrants further investigation.