Washington DC [USA], Jul 23 (ANI): Most patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease. Less than a third of those diagnosed survive more than five years. A recent study found that in 2020 alone, it is the third most common type of female cancer and is responsible for nearly 200,000 deaths worldwide. In a study published this month in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, the University of Notre Dame researchers in collaboration with NeoGenomics Laboratories have shed new light on one key factor that can make ovarian cancer particularly deadly: obesity. Obesity, which is considered a non-communicable disease, is known to increase the risk of ovarian cancer and reduce the chance of survival. A group of researchers of Mr. Sharon Stack, Director Ann F. Dunne and Elizabeth Riley of the Harper Cancer Research Institute at Notre Dame, and Anna Juncker-Jensen, Chief Scientist and Chief Scientific Officer at NeoGenomics, want to understand why obesity makes ovarian cancer fatal. The researchers examined cancerous tissue from patients with ovarian cancer. They were able to compare tissue from patients with a high body mass index (BMI) to those with a low BMI, and two important differences emerged. In cancer patients with a BMI greater than 30 (obeseness determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the researchers found a pattern in the type of immune cells around the cancer. They found a change in the tumor-infiltrating population of a type of immune cell, called macrophages, which is associated with subsequent cancer and poor outcomes. The toxic skin of obese patients is also surrounded by tougher, more fibrous tissue known to help tumors resist chemotherapy. The team could also confirm their findings by looking at similar patterns in mice with ovarian cancer fed a high-fat diet. Stack, who is also the Kleiderer-Pezold professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Notre Dame College of Science, said the study offers hope for better treatments as obesity rates rise around the world. "Our data provide a comprehensive understanding of how and why obesity may affect ovarian cancer progression and response to treatment for cancer," Stack said. "We hope that these findings will lead to new strategies for targeted therapy that can improve outcomes for patients with ovarian cancer." (ANI)