Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and extra-hepatic malignancy

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has risen to become the most common cause of chronic liver disease in Western nations in concert with rising rates of obesity. The majority of patients with NAFLD meet criteria for the metabolic syndrome and are often found to have insulin resistance (IR) or frank diabetes along with increased rates of cardiovascular disease, overall mortality, and primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The association of NAFLD with cancer specifically is an area of more recent investigation with the majority of data coming indirectly from population based studies linking obesity and a variety of extra-hepatic malignancies. Research specifically linking NAFLD with cancer has been limited to colorectal adenomas and colorectal cancer (CRC), with the majority of data showing an increased prevalence of both in NAFLD populations.