• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Type 2 Diabetes and Cancer

carina62

Well-Known Member
Messages
349
Location
Leicestershire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
miserable weather, rude and bad mannered people
Are we diabetics more prone to get cancer? As if it's not bad enough having diabetes , it's noted and I've read it quite a number of times that cancer cells thrive on sugar so does having diabetes mean we are more at risk of cancer?
 
There are hundreds of different cancers, and even with breast cancer there are dozens of sub-types. I only know about breast cancer, but the most common type feeds on oestrogen and/or progesterone. The second most common feeds on a particular human growth protein. Neither is known to feed on sugar. The other types have no known "food". I cannot speak for other types of cancer.
 
What is currently known is that cancer cells generally requires lots of glucose to grow...hence
http://www.petscaninfo.com/zportal/portals/pat/cancer

That doesn't mean that high level of glucose cause cancer...but it does provide the conditions/environment for rapid growth for many lines of cancer.

Here is a recent paper that discuss the observation that Chronically high insulin levels (hyperinsulinemia) common among prediabetes/type2 diabetes is an important factor:-
Obesity and cancer: biological links and treatment implications.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28359241
 
Last edited:
carina62 said:
Are we diabetics more prone to get cancer? As if it's not bad enough having diabetes , it's noted and I've read it quite a number of times that cancer cells thrive on sugar so does having diabetes mean we are more at risk of cancer?
Click to expand...

Carina, there are so many factors impact on any given individual's risk of developing cancer, whether or not they have diabetes. Some of those factors are genetic, some lifestyle related (e.g. smoking) and some environmental.

To be honest, I haven't spent a huge amount of time researching the issue, but spent that time getting myself as healthy as I can and trying hard to stay that way.

I do believe that any diabetic diagnosed with a cancer would be well advised to take great care to keep their blood sugars in as good a place as they can, to minimise and potential impacts.
 
Yes, there are some forms of cancer which can only use glucose for energy, so keeping blood glucose low and being in ketosis could potentially slow the development of such cancers.
However, having high blood glucose levels would not mean that you were more likely to develop cancer.

Edited to amend content, to align with Community Rules and Ethos
 
Last edited by a moderator:
AndBreathe said:
I do believe that any diabetic diagnosed with a cancer would be well advised to take great care to keep their blood sugars in as good a place as they can, to minimise and potential impacts.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how i feel about the subject.

The causes of cancer are so diverse and so individual that generalisations are impossible. But if i am ever in the unfortunate position of facing such a diagnosis, i would be looking towards very strict control of blood glucose via ketosis. And I'd be doing some heavy duty reading on fasting, re-feeding and such. Plus anything else I can discover, including making sure that my nutrients (especially Vit D3 and K2) are at optimum levels.
 

This is a nice piece describing PET scans.
I wonder though, whether you've may be misinterpreting something.
It is because cancer cells are more highly active that they use a little more glucose, it is in fact a very small amount.

You do get false positives on PET, where other highly active cells take up the radioactive glucose on occasions.
 
If you believe scientist on BBC radio 4, there is a sub set of cancers which can only use glucose for growth - not ketones. The amounts of hormones available might stimulate growth, but they are not a source of energy - only glucose enables those particular cancers to grow.
 
Struma said:
It is because cancer cells are more highly active that they use a little more glucose, it is in fact a very small amount
Click to expand...

If you have the interest and the time, do go thru the video link above. Dr Dawn Lemanne does give a balance presentation of when carbs restrictions seems to be most effective. Some cancer cells can require up to 20 times more glucose...
 
I think the cancer link is less to do with sugar and more to do with high insulin. Insulin is a growth hormone, and an associated hormone that definitely has a role in cancer is IGF1, which apparently is typically elevated when insulin is elevated. In type 2 diabetics insulin is chronically high, so that somewhat helps to explain the risk. Makes you wonder why more treatment is not geared towards lowering insulin and treating the insulin resistance! Cancer risk does decrease quite a bit when taking metformin.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…