Adiponectin(APN),anadipokineproducedbyadipocytes,hasbeenshowntohaveacriticalroleinthepathogenesisofobesityassociatedmalignancies.Throughitsreceptorinteractions,APNmayexertitsanti-carcinogeniceffectsincludingregulatingcellsurvival,apoptosisandmetastasisviaaplethoraofsignallingpathways.Despitethestrongevidencesupportingthisnotion,someworkmayindicateotherwise.Ourreviewaddressesallcontroversiescritically.Onthewhole,hypoadiponectinaemiaisassociatedwithincreasedriskofseveralmalignanciesandpoorprognosis.Inaddition,variousgeneticpolymorphismsmaypredisposeinpidualstoincreasedriskofobesity-associatedmalignancies.WealsoprovideanupdatedsummaryontherapeuticinterventionstoincreaseAPNlevelsthatareofkeyinterestinthisfield.TodateeffortstomanipulateAPNlevelshavebeenpromising,butmuchworkremainstobedone.
