High insulin levels may increase breast cancer risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Data from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study show that higher than normal insulin levels are an independent risk factor for breast cancer.
Study investigators, led by Dr. Marc J. Gunter at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, examined the association between breast cancer and blood parameters at study entry in 835 women who later developed breast cancer and 816 who did not. All of the women were postmenopausal and none were diabetic at baseline.
In the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the researchers report a positive association between insulin levels and breast cancer risk, with women with the highest levels of insulin having a 46 percent greater risk than women with the lowest levels.
The association between insulin and breast cancer risk varied depending on whether or not the women took hormone therapy. Upon further analysis, insulin level was linked with breast cancer risk only in those who did not use hormones.
For women who did not use hormones, those with a body mass index of 30 (obese) compared with those with a BMI between 18 and 25 (normal weight), had a two-fold greater risk of breast cancer. Adjusting for insulin levels attenuated this association, however.
Fasting levels of estrogen were also linked with 59 percent higher risk among women with the highest versus the lowest estrogen levels.
Given that high levels of insulin and estrogen raise the risk for postmenopausal breast cancer — and largely account for the link between obesity and breast cancer — efforts to bring down fasting insulin or circulating estrogen levels “through weight loss or increased physical activity or via pharmacologic approaches” might be indicated, the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, January 2009.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Related Posts:
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The long-term use of hormone replacement therapy, which older women abandoned in droves following the news that it may increase the risk of breast cancer, may substantially cut the risk of colorectal cancer, research shows. The greatest risk reduction — 48 percent — was observed among women who had used a
Full Post: Hormone therapy may cut colorectal cancer risk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Rather than protecting against all breast cancers, high levels of soy food consumption appears to specifically reduce the risk of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative tumors, Japanese researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer. Dr. Takeshi Suzuki, at Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute
Full Post: Soy reduces breast cancer risk by receptor status
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Rather than protecting against all breast cancers, high levels of soy food consumption appears to specifically reduce the risk of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative tumors, Japanese researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer. Dr. Takeshi Suzuki, at Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute
Full Post: Soy reduces breast cancer risk by receptor status
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Certain breast cancer survivors who load up on fruits and vegetables, eating far more than current U.S. guidelines, can slash their risk the tumors will come back by nearly a third, according to a U.S. study released on Monday. The finding only held for women who did not have hot flashes after their
Full Post: Fruits, veggies slash breast cancer risk: U.S. study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Megan Rauscher NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among United States Latinas, a greater degree of European genetic ancestry is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, the results of a new study indicate. This could be due to environmental factors, genetic factors, or the interplay of the two, the study team suggests. Latina women generally
Full Post: European origin may up Latinas’ breast cancer risk