In preclinical experiments, researchers have uncovered a mechanism linking fat cells altered by type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance to breast cancer metastases.

“The health of nearby fat cells has never been taken into consideration in oncology,” molecular oncologist Associate Professor Gerald Denis, of Boston University School of Medicine, said.

“Mostly, fat cells have been ignored as large storage depots that don’t do much. But our results show they are in close communication with breast cancers of all subtypes.”

In Science Signaling, Dr Denis and colleagues have described experiments in cells that led to the proposed connection between adipocytes and breast cancer.