Overexpression of leptin and leptin receptors in breast cancer positively correlates with clinicopathological features

Obesity has been reported to increase postmenopausal breast cancer risk by 30% to 50%, and obese breast cancer patients have been shown to present more aggressive breast cancer pathological features As most breast cancers are sex hormone-dependent, adipocytokines derived from adipose tissue, such as leptin, may account for the positive association between obesity and breast cancer. Leptin, a 16-kDa protein product of the obese gene, was initially regarded as a neuroendocrine factor in the hypothalamus to maintain homeostasis of body weight by regulating food intake and energy expenditure.