Pulmonary metastasization of cutaneous melanoma in the context of obesity

This book is the result of the experimental research I carried out as part of the Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra in 2018. Resulting from a partnership between this academic institution and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, where all the laboratory activities were carried out, the project in question was designed based on results previously obtained by the guidance team on the degree of pulmonary metastasis of cutaneous melanoma in obese mice versus non-obese mice, and it was observed that obese mice had a lower number of pulmonary metastases, as well as tending to have smaller metastases, compared to non-obese mice. Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms that explain this variation in the pulmonary response to the invasion of metastatic skin melanoma cells in the context of obesity has become a key research question, particularly those associated with the chronic low-grade inflammation characteristic of obesity and the pulmonary immune reaction modulated by this inflammatory state.