Phranky
06-06-2006, 10:49 AM
More happy, happy news about insulin....
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http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/06/05/breast-insulin.html
Insulin levels may help explain why obese women who develop breast cancer tend to have poorer survival rates than lean women.
Excess insulin may fuel breast cancer cells. (CBC)
"Women who are say 50 pounds overweight may have up to a doubling of the possibility of not being cured," said Dr. Michael Pollak, an oncologist at Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.
Pollak and his colleagues studied 600 breast cancer patients across Canada. The results were presented on Monday in Atlanta at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, the world's leading gathering of cancer specialists.
They found that abnormally high levels of insulin in the blood, resulting from obesity, had an impact on breast tumours.
The team speculates breast cancer cells directly respond to insulin like a fuel. Scientists know the hormone estrogen feeds breast tumours, and propose that excess insulin is another potential culprit.
"We'd speculate that reduction of one's weight to closer to ideal body weight might well improve prognosis," said Pollak.
However, being an ideal weight in no way guarantees a better outcome, and some women of normal weight still have unfavourable outcomes from breast cancer and die.
The study of hundreds of women suggests a trend. When all else is equal, women are more likely to have a favourable outcome if they're closer to an ideal weight.
--------------------
http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/06/05/breast-insulin.html
Insulin levels may help explain why obese women who develop breast cancer tend to have poorer survival rates than lean women.
Excess insulin may fuel breast cancer cells. (CBC)
"Women who are say 50 pounds overweight may have up to a doubling of the possibility of not being cured," said Dr. Michael Pollak, an oncologist at Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.
Pollak and his colleagues studied 600 breast cancer patients across Canada. The results were presented on Monday in Atlanta at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, the world's leading gathering of cancer specialists.
They found that abnormally high levels of insulin in the blood, resulting from obesity, had an impact on breast tumours.
The team speculates breast cancer cells directly respond to insulin like a fuel. Scientists know the hormone estrogen feeds breast tumours, and propose that excess insulin is another potential culprit.
"We'd speculate that reduction of one's weight to closer to ideal body weight might well improve prognosis," said Pollak.
However, being an ideal weight in no way guarantees a better outcome, and some women of normal weight still have unfavourable outcomes from breast cancer and die.
The study of hundreds of women suggests a trend. When all else is equal, women are more likely to have a favourable outcome if they're closer to an ideal weight.