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Type 2 Diabetes – Helping to Solve the Riddle of Diabetes and Breast Cancer

Type 2 Diabetes – Helping to Solve the Riddle of Diabetes and Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is considered to be epidemic among women over fifty. There are many reasons for this. At this time women with Type 2 diabetes and obese women are known for having a high risk of breast cancer.

Investigators at the University of Naples in Italy looked at molecules secreted by fat cells to try to discover how fat cells might be involved in producing this type of cancer in women.

A particular study which was published in the journal Diabetologia in the month of July 2012 used breast cancer cells in containers with fat cells. Cancer cells were able to able to grow and spread faster when they were placed in the same containers with fat cells taken from human breasts than without such fat cells.

Fat cells in containers with higher sugar levels were able to help the cancer cells more than those in containers with lower sugar levels. The fat cells displayed higher levels of the molecule Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) than those seen in lean women. When IGF-1 was inhibited, the fat cells stopped helping the breast cancer cells.

This information led the researchers to conclude when IGF-1 given off by fat cells is stimulated by sugar, it could contribute to the high risk of cancer of the breast in obese women.

Both obesity and sedentary lifestyle have been associated with breast cancer:

one study showed obese women were 35 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than thin women.
another study showed women with the highest amount of exercise were 15 percent less likely to get breast cancer than sedentary women.

These signs and symptoms can be indications of breast cancer include:

lumps in the breast can be fibrocysts, which are harmless, but a mass that is hard as a piece of wood needs to be evaluated without delay.
blood coming from the nipple should also be seen by your family doctor because it is a sign of ductal breast cancer.
women should all be familiar with the size and shape of their breasts and report any unusual changes to their doctor.
new dimples appearing over the skin of the breast, or pitting or redness, giving the breast the appearance of an orange skin, can also be signs of cancer.
inverted nipples are normal if they have always been that way, but new inversion should be investigated.
peeling skin, scaling, or flaking over the nipple or skin should also be investigated.

When breast cancer is diagnosed in its earliest stage, before it has had time to grow or spread, there is a 93 percent chance the patient will survive 5 years or more. After a tumor has grown and spread to the chest wall, lymph nodes, and distant parts of the body, the 5 year survival rate goes down to only 15 percent. That is why it is important to report anything suspicious to your doctor so that tests can be ordered as soon as possible.

Type 2 Diabetes – Helping to Solve the Riddle of Diabetes and Breast Cancer

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