Study Links Visceral Fat Metabolism to Aggressive Uterine Cancer
Vienna, Austria – October 5, 2025 CET/CEST – Researchers at the University of Bergen have discovered a meaningful correlation between metabolic activity in visceral fat adn the progression of uterine cancer. The study, presented at EANM’25, analyzed PET/CT scans from 274 women with endometrial cancer, revealing that higher glucose absorption in visceral adipose tissue was associated with more advanced cancer stages and the presence of lymph node metastases.
The research indicates the biological activity of visceral fat, rather than simply its volume, is linked to disease aggressiveness. “A higher metabolic activity in visceral fat was substantially associated with more advanced cancer stages and the presence of lymph node metastases,” explained Jostein Sæterstøl, the study’s main author and a doctoral student/MSC. “It is indeed noteworthy that we could not find a strong correlation between the volume of visceral fat and its metabolic activity, which indicates that the connection with the aggressiveness of the disease is not only related to the amount of fat, but also with its biological activity.”
Researchers theorize that chronic inflammation within visceral fat releases cytokines and fatty acids that fuel tumor growth and suppress the immune system. This inflammation also contributes to insulin resistance, a known risk factor for cancer progression, possibly aiding tumor cell spread, particularly to lymph nodes.
While current PET/CT technology faces challenges in accurately measuring visceral fat metabolism due to low signal recording, the team believes future advancements – including standardized imaging analysis, advanced quantitative PET techniques, and artificial intelligence - could enable clinical application for identifying high-risk patients, informing treatment decisions, and monitoring disease progression.
Future research will focus on refining measurement methods, improving accuracy with AI-based segmentation, and investigating the relationship between visceral fat metabolism and circulating biomarkers like cytokines and hormones.
