Ovarian cancer tumors in obese mice grew to nearly three times the size of tumors in non-obese mice, researchers discovered in a recent study. Their findings, published in the April issue of the journal Gynecologic Oncology, revealed insight into the reasons why. The research team, led by Dr. Liza Makowski, assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, and lead principal investigator Dr. Vickie Bae-Jump, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the UNC School of Medicine, used a novel genetically engineered mouse model of serous ovarian cancer to examine effects of obesity on ovarian cancer progression and to help understand risk factors that affect patient outcomes.