Obesity, alcoholism, and chronic hepatitis all increase the risk of getting liver cancer, which is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide.

Sciencedaily— Obesity, alcoholism, and chronic hepatitis all increase the risk of getting liver cancer, which is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Obesity in particular is driving a significant increase in liver cancer in the United States. These three health problems also increase cellular stress in the liver, but until now it has not been clear if there is a direct biological link between cellular stress and the development of liver cancer.

In a new study, University of Iowa researchers have identified an unexpected molecular link between liver cancer, cellular stress, and these health problems that increase the risk of developing this cancer.

The study, published Dec. 19 in the journal PLOS Genetics, shows that a protein called CHOP, which had previously been thought to generally protect against cancer, actually promotes liver cancer in mice and may do the same in humans.

"Obesity, alcoholism, and viral hepatitis are all known independently to cause cellular stress and to induce expression of CHOP," says Thomas Rutkowski, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology in the UI Carver College of Medicine and senior study author. "So this finding suggests a biological pathway that links those 'upstream' health problems to liver cancer at the end."

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