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Raised Insulin and Cancer

CherryAA

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,170
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Following the diagnosis of a close freind with cancer, I have been looking in some detail at the links between diabetes and cancer and insulin.

I think many of us are becoming more familiar with the idea that cancer is linked to nutrition and that beating cancer can also be assisted by proper nutrition as an ADJUNCT - not replacement for cancer treatments.

Otto Warburg's theories that many cancer's cannot survive without glucose has obviously influenced at lot of this research. This has also let to the idea that adopting a ketogenic diet, and /or having chemo in a fasted state may help both a reduction of the side effect of the chemo and the potential to shrink tumours.

A great of work is underway to try to figure out what the mechanisms for this are and why they might be so useful.

As part of the research I have been looking closely at the work Dom d'Agostino has been doing and he in turn led me to this.

https://www.yalecancercenter.org/research/education/grand-rounds/2018archive/cantley.aspx

Whilst this lecture is way over my head, the research has been specifically targeted at female cancers and the overall conclusions show the researchers actually getting to grips with how efficient a ketogenic diet is at making the relevant drug treatments work. As such for anyone concerned about cancer, this is probably worth ploughing through.
 
Thank you @CherryAA, I believe the PET scan(positive Emission tomography scan) makes use of a cancer cells' uptake of glucose in order to detect cancer cell sites in the body.
Insulin is classified as a hormone promoting growth and various insulins for injection have measures of ability/potential to stimulate cell growth.
 


Cherry - I'm so sorry to hear of your friend's diagnosis. When something like that happens to someone close, as well as a natural concern for their welfare, it often brings our own mortality, and aftentimes good fortune, to date, to mind.

I know when I was going through the usual wrangle of momography, tests, biopsies and eventual wide margin excision biopsy, as someone already following an LC lifestyle, I vowed I would be strictly, seriously keto if the chips didn't fall in my favour.

Thankfully, I was fortunate in the result, but I still feel the same. Of course, there is an argument to say I should just go keto anyway, but for now, I've not taken that full-time step. Were I in the same position again, with a different hand of cards, I'd likely give carnivory a go, but for now, the call of the Brussell Sprout is too beguiling.

I know,.............. That's just not normal in itself, but don't mistake this >>>> <<<< for the face of concern.

I wish your friend the best possible outcome.
 
I am new to this site and have not officially been diagnosed via my doctor. My results came via my breast surgeon, I have just posted a thread for help and advice. I had Wide Local Excision with radiotherapy 'just' 12 months back. Before this my blood sugars, liver etc was 'within range' - however, I don't know what has happened in the 12 months in between.

I now have to take a daily tablet to remove oestrogen from my body called Letrozole (could this be this cause?) I have started taking Glucosamine Sulphate along with Flax Seed Oil capsule supplement (could it be either of these?) Plus over the last 3 months I have lost approx. 10lb in weight from cutting down food and taking a Protein Shake (it's a system to loose weight, however, I didn't stick to it fully, I was having one shake every other day or few days (could this be it?)

Or is there a relation to what you say CherryAA says.... my first thought reading your post Cherry is whilst the cancer is in situ, could this be eating the sugar and then when the cancer is removed the sugar has to go elsewhere and so creates the diabetes (I still don't understand all of this thought). (Wish I had blood test 6 months after opp. they don't tend to do blood test routinely though)!!

Hope you don't mind me posting on here (I'm new and trying to learn) xx
 
Hi @Confused Charlotte, not as professional advice or opinion: looking up cancerresearchuk.com, letrozole is not listed as causing or exacerbating diabetes. Losing weight does not usually count as a cause of diabetes but maybe a sign of diabetes and according to studies glucosamine 'probably' does not raise blood sugar (medicalnewstoday.com).
Some people find that their diabetes 'declares itself' after a sudden, severe or prolonged stress (Diabetes Australia - Can stress cause Type 2 diabetes?).
Best Wishes with your future and please look at the Home page about diabetes.
Hopefully as the stresses of the past 12 months eases the diabetes, and blood sugars will ease.
 

Hi Charlotte - I'm sorry you're having to go through this too. I seem to recall our friend @Bluetit1802 was diagnosed a short while after treatment for BC.

I wonder if you would get more "you focused" responses with a thread of your own, so that people can concentrate on your concerns? Sometimes when adding addition thoughts or queries to an existing thread they can be overlooked or missed.

If you'd like a thread of your own, you can start one by yourself, or I (or any Mod for that matter) can move your above post (along with Kitedoc's and my own), to form a new thread for you.
 

Hi,

As @DCUKMod mentioned above, I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2013 at which time I was not diabetic, and not even pre-diabetic. 12 months later in January 2014 I was diagnosed with Type 2. During the whole of that 12 months I was receiving cancer treatment - a Wide Local Excision, followed by a second op to scrape out to make the margins better, followed by 6 sessions of chemo plus Herceptin, followed by continued Herceptin, and 3 weeks of radiotherapy. The chemo involved 4 days of strong steroids each session. My tumour was 100% hormone negative and was found to be HER2+++ meaning it was fed by a human growth protein and nothing to do with hormones.

Obviously it was a very stressful period, but I have sort of blamed the food I was eating during the time I was on chemo - bottle after bottle of Lucozade (for energy!), bananas by the dozen, cranberry juice in quantity, manuka honey daily, ice cream, chocolate (for comfort) and so on. Most of these foods were not previously a main part of my diet, and I put on quite a bit of weight.

Who knows .... but I am glad to say I am now almost 6 years clear of cancer, but stuck with T2.

By the way, I was also "diagnosed" T2 by the oncologist on a routine outpatients review when she looked at her screen and saw the results of a blood test I had at the surgery a few days earlier (a routine MOT).
 
It would be nice to find a universal cure for cancer, but I doubt there is one, it is a disease that has many different manifestations and different causes.
All one can say is there is a positive correlation between certain cancers, obsesity and diabetes. There is a similar correlation between dementia and type 2 diabetes, as there is in recent Chinese study between having low LDL and dementia!
I do not know what that says about the statin/ ldl ideas?

When I worked on radiotherapy equipment, very sadly toddlers were treated for cancer.
They were not habitual high blood glucose types.
Life is not full of easy answers, circumstances alter cases, as my old mother used to say.
D.
 
What seems to becoming clearer is that if one does get cancer or is worried about it, then removing as many sugars as possible from your diet.

Ultimately its a complicated area where the specifics of the cancer are highly relevant. There are experts looking into this with experience who can often be consulted.

This podcast is a good place to start.

https://drbretscher.libsyn.com/dr-nasha-winters-nd-treating-the-whole-person-not-just-the-tumor

The important thing to bear in mind is that none of these people are suggestng that diet replaces standard treatment, instead that the correct diet can ASSIST the standard treatments
 
I have worked on Oncology wards, many patients develop T2 drug induced diabetes through the use of steroids. When taking steriods sugar levels increases, also increases appetite, causing the munchies as they are hungry, therefore may eat things which they may normally don't.
 
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