Development of Metabolic Syndrome Associated to Cancer Therapy: Review

Long-term childhood cancer survivors are at great risk of developing late adverse effects after treatment, such as, reduced growth, obesity, decreased fertility, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, impaired glucose, another form of cancer, among others organ dysfunctions, some of them are part of the metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome and cancer connection is still not entirely understood, but there are some notions about it. Metabolic alterations produced during childhood cancer are more likely determined by treatments like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, glucocorticoids therapy, and surgery. Cancer treatment is associated to vascular alterations, hormone deficiencies, changes in insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, and inflammatory mediators. Obesity has been considered a crucial component in metabolic syndrome; obesity risk factors during childhood cancer include cranial radiation, female gender, and exposure to glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone. In addition, local radiotherapy or surgery may cause endocrine deficiencies, depends on the directly damage of endocrine organs. Patients who received some types of cancer treatment should be evaluated periodically to early diagnostic metabolic disorders associated to antineoplastic therapy.