Abstract

Both obesity and metabolic health are linked to increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), breast tumors (post-menopausal), and other disorders associated with obesity. Over the past 50 years, obesity and the metabolic syndrome have become more commonplace globally, as have the co-morbidities and mortality they cause. Specific elements of the metabolic syndrome have been connected to worse survival rates and a higher risk of breast cancer, even though the precise mechanism by which the metabolic syndrome increases the risk of cancer is still partially understood. There is a bidirectional link between the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer since there is a heavy load of shared risk factors and greater incidence of CVD among cancer survivors. This relationship may be influenced by the pro-inflammatory microenvironment that is associated with the metabolic syndrome and cancer-directed therapies.