Morphological and Functional Changes in the Peritumoral Adipose Tissue of Colorectal Cancer Patients

Objective: The role of peritumoral adipose tissue (AT) has not been extensively studied in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: This study was conducted in 20 male subjects undergoing elective surgery for CRC. The differences between the peritumoral visceral adipose tissue (P-VAT), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) of the patients were described via immunohistochemistry and molecular biology analyses. The interactions between adipocytes and a colon cancer cell line were also investigated by using an in vitro coculture system.

Results: The analyses revealed that adipocytes near the tumor were significantly smaller than the adipocytes from other sites. The P-VAT was preferentially infiltrated by a CD68+/CD163+/IDO- macrophage subset with a prevalent reparative inflammatory response, while the macrophages identified in VAT and SAT mainly presented inflammatory features. Furthermore, the P-VAT presented a higher expression of adiponectin compared with other sites. Morphological analysis in vitro showed that after a few days of coculture, 3T3-L1 adipocytes were reduced in number and size with an increase in lipolysis rate and dedifferentiation phenomena.

Conclusions: This study reveals important morphological and functional changes in the AT surrounding the tumor as an increase in lipolysis and in adiponectin-producing adipocytes, preferentially infiltrated by a macrophage subset, with prevalent reparative inflammatory response.