Breast Cancer death linked to high insulin levels.
May 25, 2000 -- Women with breast cancer who have high levels of the hormone insulin have a greater chance of the disease recurring and dying from it. Seven years after diagnosis, women with high insulin levels had eight times the chance of dying, compared to women with lower levels, according to research reported at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
"We've found a factor that circulates in the body that may predict outcomes in breast cancer," says Pamela J. Goodwin, MD, lead researcher of the study. "Insulin is well-known for its control of blood sugars. What's new in our study is that it also appears to have an important effect on the growth of breast cancers." Goodwin is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto School of Medicine and a senior scientist at the Samuel Lunenfeld Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Among women with low insulin levels, 4% died seven years after diagnosis. Of the women with high insulin levels, 32% died seven years from diagnosis. While high insulin levels are often related to being overweight, the study also found some normal weight women with high insulin levels, and they too had poor outcomes.
Goodwin emphasizes that even though insulin appears to be a risk factor, most of those with high insulin levels do not have bad outcomes. "This is one more risk factor, but it is not a defining factor," she says. "Even those with the highest levels only had a 32% risk of death at seven years -- not a certainty."
"It's possible this is a real finding, but it is always hard to be certain if you've corrected for all the other possibly relevant factors," says I. Craig Henderson, MD. "On the other hand, laboratory work does suggest that breast cancer cells have receptors that are responsive to insulin, and that insulin can serve as a growth factor." Henderson is professor of medicine at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco.
"We're very glad to see more research being done that will give us a better understanding of how breast cancer progresses," says Amy Allina, program and policy director of the National Women's Health Network in Washington, D.C. "It's critically important to gain a better understanding, so we can reduce both the incidence of the disease and its progression in women who've been diagnosed. This is an important new avenue of research."
High Insulin Levels Linked to Breast Cancer Death
May 25, 2000 -- Women with breast cancer who have high levels of the hormone insulin have a greater chance of the disease recurring and dying from it. Seven years after diagnosis, women with high insulin levels had eight times the chance of dying, compared to women with lower levels, according to research reported at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
"We've found a factor that circulates in the body that may predict outcomes in breast cancer," says Pamela J. Goodwin, MD, lead researcher of the study. "Insulin is well-known for its control of blood sugars. What's new in our study is that it also appears to have an important effect on the growth of breast cancers." Goodwin is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto School of Medicine and a senior scientist at the Samuel Lunenfeld Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Among women with low insulin levels, 4% died seven years after diagnosis. Of the women with high insulin levels, 32% died seven years from diagnosis. While high insulin levels are often related to being overweight, the study also found some normal weight women with high insulin levels, and they too had poor outcomes.
Goodwin emphasizes that even though insulin appears to be a risk factor, most of those with high insulin levels do not have bad outcomes. "This is one more risk factor, but it is not a defining factor," she says. "Even those with the highest levels only had a 32% risk of death at seven years -- not a certainty."
"It's possible this is a real finding, but it is always hard to be certain if you've corrected for all the other possibly relevant factors," says I. Craig Henderson, MD. "On the other hand, laboratory work does suggest that breast cancer cells have receptors that are responsive to insulin, and that insulin can serve as a growth factor." Henderson is professor of medicine at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco.
"We're very glad to see more research being done that will give us a better understanding of how breast cancer progresses," says Amy Allina, program and policy director of the National Women's Health Network in Washington, D.C. "It's critically important to gain a better understanding, so we can reduce both the incidence of the disease and its progression in women who've been diagnosed. This is an important new avenue of research."