WIKIPEDIA, NIHA new study links the browning of white fat in adipose tissue to cancer-associated cachexia, a wasting syndrome that causes approximately 20 percent of deaths in cancer patients. The results, published last week (July 17) in Cell Metabolism, reveal that the conversion of white fat to brown is an early step preceding the atrophy process in mouse models of lung and pancreatic cancer.
White fat—that which piles on waistlines, potentially leading to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease—is typically considered “bad,” while brown fat, a form that generates heat to keep babies and hibernating animals warm, is usually thought of as healthier.
This study, however, “is the first time that this phenomenon we might call burning fat has been associated with a negative effect,” study coauthor Erwin Wagner said in a statement. “The transformation of white fat into brown fat, currently one of the most researched subjects because of its potential effects on obesity and diabetes, has very severe consequences” when it comes to cancer.
The researchers, led by Michele Petruzzelli of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center, found that the browning of white fat was linked to higher ...
