 20% of cancer cases are estimated to be caused by being obese, with a stronger association found with certain types of cancer such as endometrial, esophageal adenocarcinoma, colorectal, postmenopausal breast, prostate, and renal. The underlying processes linking cancer to obesity include insulin, insulin-like growth factori, sex steroids, and adipokines, with potential mechanisms such as chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, cross-talk between tumor cells, and surrounding adipocytes, migrating adipostromal cells, obesity-induced hypoxia, shared genetic susceptibility, and functional defeat of immune function. This article was authored by Giovanni de Pergola and Franco Silvestri's.