ADIPOQ and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency: Given the prevalence of obesity and increased risk of breast cancer in obese patients, several cellular and molecular mechanisms have been proposed to explain the obesity/cancer axis, which includes cancer-associated adipocytes, obesity-related inflammatory cytokines (e.g.,IL-6 and TNFα), lipids (e.g., lysophosphatidic acid and prostaglandins), adipokines (e.g., leptin and adiponectin), insulin/insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), and sex hormones [8, 12, 13].