The Sweet Scent in the Past
Almost a hundred years ago, in the 1920s, doctors found something strange. Cancer patients had sweet-smelling pee.
This confused the doctors at first. But soon, they figured it out. The sweetness was because of high sugar levels in their blood.
“This was one of the first things we learned about cancer patients,” says Lykke Sylow, a respected professor.
Cancer and Blood Sugar: What’s the Link?
The sweet-smelling pee meant that cancer was affecting blood sugar levels. But how? A new research study is ready to answer that question.
While other studies have looked at the link between cancer and insulin (a hormone that helps control blood sugar), this one is the first to pull together all the best research on the subject. And the answer seems clear.
“In cancer patients, the cells don’t react well to insulin. So, it takes more insulin to have the same effect.
If you have ‘insulin resistance’, your body needs to make more insulin than usual to control your blood sugar,” says Professor Sylow, a main author of the study.
The Research Details
To do their research, the scientists looked at 15 different studies about insulin sensitivity and cancer.
This included 187 patients with different types of cancer, like lung and colon cancer. They also looked at 154 control subjects.
They only looked at studies that used a very accurate way to study insulin sensitivity in people.
And they found that both cancer patients and people with type 2 diabetes have a hard time responding to insulin.
Type 2 diabetes symptoms like feeling tired and needing to drink and pee a lot can be hard to notice. They happen slowly.
And for cancer patients, it’s even harder to spot insulin resistance because they already feel some of these symptoms, like tiredness.
Insulin and Cancer Cells: A Dangerous Mix
Insulin resistance is not good. And it can make cancer cells grow faster.
“We know from different studies that insulin can act like a growth hormone on cancer cells. So, high insulin levels can make cancer cells multiply quicker,” says Joan Màrmol, another main author of the study.
Moreover, insulin resistance can impact how muscles build up proteins. If the body doesn’t respond to insulin well, it can lose muscle mass and strength. That’s a big problem for many cancer patients.
What Should We Do Next?
Professor Sylow hopes doctors treating cancer will start checking patients’ blood sugar levels—even when they seem normal.
That’s because insulin resistance can be hard to spot. The body can hide it by just making more insulin.
“If they find out the patient has insulin resistance, they need to start treating it. We know how to treat insulin resistance. We just usually connect it with type 2 diabetes,” Sylow says.
More research is needed on this topic.
“The next step is figuring out who gets insulin resistance. Which cancer patients are at risk? Is it linked to a certain type of cancer or risk factors? Or is it maybe connected with the treatment?” Sylow asks.
“And once we know who’s at high risk, I hope we’ll see more long-term studies on treating insulin resistance. And whether it helps the patients.”
This research was published in the Acta Oncologica journal.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies that MIND diet may reduce risk of vision loss disease, and new therapy for type 2 diabetes remains effective 2 years later.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies that Vitamin E could help reduce blood sugar and insulin resistance in diabetes, and results showing diabetes drug metformin may slow down cognitive decline.
The study was published in Acta Oncologica.
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