Leptin signaling axis specifically associates with clinical prognosis and is multifunctional in regulating cancer progression

// Tsung-Chieh Lin 1 , Kuan-Wei Huang 1 , Chia-Wei Liu 1 , Yu-Chan Chang 2 , Wei-Ming Lin 3 , Tse-Yen Yang 4 and Michael Hsiao 2, 5 1 Genomic Medicine Core Laboratory, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan 2 Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 3 Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi Branch, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Chiayi, Taiwan 4 Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 5 Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Correspondence to: Michael Hsiao, email: mhsiao@gate.sinica.edu.tw Keywords: leptin; leptin receptor; expression; survival; prognosis Received: November 19, 2017      Accepted: February 26, 2018      Published: March 30, 2018 ABSTRACT Leptin is a peptide hormone that has been characterized as the ligand of leptin receptor ( LEPR ). The observation of leptin secretion and leptin receptor expression beyond the normal tissues suggests the potentially critical roles other than its physiological function. In addition to the original function in controlling appetite and energy expenditure, leptin-mediated signaling axis through leptin receptor is multifunctional which plays role in the regulation toward broad types of cancer. Emerging evidences has indicated leptin’s function in promoting several processes which are relevant to cancer progression including cell proliferation, metastasis, angiogenesis and drug resistance. We relatively display leptin and leptin receptor expression levels in pan-cancer panel based on the transcriptome analysis via dataset The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and show the clinical association of the axis in predicting cancer prognosis. The results indicate the pathological impacts of this axis on many types of cancer. This review mainly focuses on leptin-mediated effects and its downstream signaling related to the progression of cancers, and displays the clinical significance of this axis including the impact on cancer patient survival.