Guadalupe Sabio during her inauguration speech at the RACVE./ RACVE
Sabio, head of the Organ Interactions in Metabolic Diseases Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), has been sworn in as a Full Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Veterinary Sciences.
Obesity is ‘a chronic disease’, Sabio said in her inauguration speech. Her aim is to ‘develop new therapeutic strategies and contribute to changing the perception of obesity in both society and the clinical setting’.
Obesity increases the risk of dying from cancer increases 1.5 times in men and 1.6 times in women.
“Today, more than ever, it is crucial to recognise obesity as a chronic disease that must be approached with the same rigour as other pathologies. My goal continues to be to contribute knowledge that will allow the development of new therapeutic strategies and help changing the perception of obesity in both society and in the clinical setting,” said Guadalupe Sabio, head of the Organ Crosstalk in Metabolic Diseases Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), during her recent inauguration as a Full Academician of the Spanish Royal Academy of Veterinary Sciences.
Under the title What fat hides, the endocrine function of adipose tissue, Sabio’s speech reviewed her efforts to understand the function of body fat – or adipose tissue –, its influence on health and its potential as a basis for new therapeutic strategies.
Body fat and its functions
Sabio pointed out that adipose tissue is a functional organ – not a passive one – which, in addition to storing energy, regulates metabolism, appetite and body temperature. In obesity, this tissue presents dysfunctions that profoundly alter the functioning of multiple organs and systems, and it underlies diseases such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, cardiovascular pathologies and cancer.
Obesity, ‘rather than a problem about the quantity of our adipose tissue, is also a problem about its quality,’ she said. Moreover, ‘we now know that [obesity] generates epigenetic changes that hinder weight loss’.
Link between obesity and cancer
Sabio’s research has evolved from molecular biology to physiology. Working with various groups, ‘we have been able to show that obesity affects not only adipose tissue, but also key organs such as the liver, muscle and the cardiovascular system, establishing a new framework for understanding its impact on the body,’ she said.
She also clarified that the dysfunction of the adipose tissue in obesity promotes cancer: chronic inflammation contributes to cell proliferation and the formation of blood vessels that feed the tumour, as well as metastasis, altered hormone signalling and DNA damage. It also impairs surveillance by the immune system.
Sabio provided figures: obesity increases the risk of dying from cancer increases 1.5 times in men and 1.6 times in women. Endometrial cancer is up to 7 times more frequent in severely obese people, while the risk of liver, kidney, pancreatic and colorectal cancer doubles. Postmenopausal breast cancer increases with overweight.
This is why preventing obesity is key to reducing the incidence of cancer. It is necessary to understand the mechanisms underlying the relationship between obesity and cancer ‘in order to advance new prevention and treatment strategies’, she said.
Circadian rhythms, obesity and new treatments
In recent years Sabio has been studying the interaction between circadian rhythms and obesity, and her findings have opened up lines of research linking chronobiology and metabolic health. Specifically, she has revealed how the alteration of biological cycles in people with obesity can predispose them to serious diseases, such as cholangiocarcinoma.
As for the therapeutic application of her studies, the researcher said that “modulating the metabolism of adipose tissue and other organs presents opportunities to develop more effective and innovative treatments for obesity-related diseases, such as heart failure and cancer.
International collaboration and teamwork
Sabio’s career began at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Cáceres. From there she moved to the University of Dundee, in Scotland (UK), and later to the laboratory of Roger Davis at the Chan School of Medicine of the University of Massachusetts (USA). She returned to Spain to lead her first research group at the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC). Since January 2024, she has headed a group at the CNIO dedicated to understanding why obesity increases the risk of cancer.
She sees science as ‘a collective effort, a network of knowledge that advances thanks to collaboration and a passion for discovery’. Beyond the laboratory, her commitment encompasses “the training of new generations of researchers, transmitting a passion for research and the importance of scientific curiosity. It is essential to foster an environment in which young researchers can develop and contribute new ideas that will continue to advance knowledge.”