Abstract: Metabolic changes such as glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and redox are common in cancers. Obesity causes imbalances in adipokines such as the upregulation of leptin, visfatin, and resistin and the downregulation of adiponectin; these imbalances are regarded as a key factor in the occurrence and development of obesity-related cancers and play vital roles in metabolic changes in cancers. Understanding the effect of adipokines in cancer metabolism can clarify the mechanism of tumorigenesis and help explore new strategies for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of cancers.