A groundbreaking new study presented at the 38th Annual Congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM’25) has revealed a powerful link between visceral fat, the deep belly fat stored around internal organs, and aggressive forms of endometrial cancer. Researchers found that it’s not just the amount of belly fat that matters, but how metabolically active that fat is. In other words, visceral fat that’s “burning up” more glucose (sugar) for energy may drive cancer growth and make the disease more aggressive.This discovery has major implications for women’s health across the globe as rates of obesity and endometrial cancer continue to rise. The findings could change how doctors assess cancer risk in women and open doors for new diagnostic and treatment approaches.
What the study found
The research, led by scientists from Haukeland University Hospital and the University of Bergen, analyzed PET/CT scans from 274 women diagnosed with endometrial cancer—a cancer that affects the lining of the uterus. Using advanced imaging, the team measured how much glucose each woman’s visceral fat was using, an indicator of how “metabolically active” the fat tissue was.Women whose visceral fat showed higher glucose uptake tended to have:
- More advanced endometrial cancer at diagnosis
- Greater likelihood of lymph node involvement, a sign of aggressive disease
Surprisingly, the total volume of visceral fat didn’t always match its metabolic activity. This means that simply having more belly fat wasn’t necessarily the problem, what really mattered was how “hot” or inflamed that fat was on a molecular level.
Why metabolically active visceral fat is dangerous
Visceral fat is the deeper, more harmful kind of fat that surrounds your liver, intestines, and other organs. Unlike subcutaneous fat (the softer fat under your skin), visceral fat produces inflammatory chemicals and hormones that can disrupt metabolism and fuel chronic diseases.Here’s how metabolically active visceral fat may worsen endometrial cancer outcomes:Chronic Inflammation: Active visceral fat releases cytokines and fatty acids, which create an inflammatory environment that helps tumors grow and spread.Insulin resistance: Inflammation promotes insulin resistance, which in turn fuels cancer cell growth.Adipokine signaling: Fat cells send signals called adipokines that can “talk” directly to tumor cells, helping them survive and invade nearby tissues.This “crosstalk” between fat tissue and cancer cells could explain why women with highly active visceral fat experience more aggressive and harder-to-treat cancers.
What this means for women’s health
For years, obesity has been a known risk factor for endometrial cancer, especially among postmenopausal women. But this new study suggests that not all fat is equal, and it’s the behavior of visceral fat that may determine cancer severity.The findings highlight a potential new frontier in cancer research: targeting metabolically active belly fat to reduce cancer aggressiveness. If doctors can develop imaging tools or drugs to calm down or neutralize “hot” visceral fat, it could become a breakthrough in personalized cancer treatment.
