Diabetes and the Increased Risk of Breast Cancer Ithaca NY
Diabetes and the Increased Risk of Breast Cancer
A new study published in the International Journal of Cancer confirms previous research showing that diabetes increases the risk of breast cancer. In this study elevated insulin levels in the blood appeared to raise the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
"Up to now, only a few studies have directly investigated whether insulin levels are associated with breast cancer risk, and those studies have yielded conflicting results," says Geoffrey Kabat, Ph.D., senior epidemiologist in the department of epidemiology and population health at Einstein and the lead author of the paper. "Those other studies were based on just a single baseline measurement of insulin, while our study involved analyzing repeated measurements of insulin taken over several years--which provides a more accurate picture of the possible association between insulin levels and breast cancer risk."
According to the American Diabetes Association, breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy in women and the second leading cause of cancer death. It's three times more common than all gynecologic cancers put together, and it's been steadily increasing since 1960.
Obesity and diabetes have been linked to increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Both of these conditions involve insulin resistance , which elevates the circulating levels of insulin. Since insulin promotes cell division and enhances breast tumor growth in animal models, the Einstein scientists determined that relatively high insulin levels may contribute to breast cancer risk in women...
