New study confirms high insulin deadly re: cancer in men

https://blog.designsforhealth.com/node/1112

Somebody said...
Does Insulin Play a Role in Prostate Cancer? September 25, 2019
Since early detection may play a significant role in the prognosis and ultimate outcome, let’s take a closer look at something that may be contributing to increased risk, and that may be detectable even before cancer develops: chronically elevated insulin.

Chronic hyperinsulinemia is associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). While this is “benign” enlargement of the prostate gland, it might nevertheless provide clues into the possible relationship between elevated insulin and prostate cancer, particularly keeping in mind that, as stated in a meta-analysis published last month in Current Diabetes Reviews, “Insulin is known to have direct and indirect effects on cell cycle progression, proliferation and metastatic activities.”............................................
Insulin is an anabolic hormone; it stimulates or at the very least facilitates growth of tissue—an observation anyone who’s struggled to lose body fat on a high-carbohydrate diet can attest to. Insulin facilitates storage of fat in adipose tissue; it also appears to facilitate prostate enlargement: “in insulin-resistant individuals, the increased level of circulating insulin directly and/or indirectly affects different molecular signaling and can promote prostatic growth.”

This is not a mere association; hyperinsulinemia may be causal in BPH. Men with high fasting insulin levels have a greater annual growth rate of the prostate gland. One study went so far as to say that fasting insulin and the ratio of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) to prostate specific antigen (PSA) predict prostate size in men with BPH: higher insulin along with a lower IGFBP-3/PSA ratio predict a larger prostate. One researcher wrote that hyperinsulinemia is a “driving force” behind BPH. ( wish to heck I had known this back in the day)

Returning to cancer, the meta-analysis mentioned above found a significant direct association between fasting insulin level and cancer mortality in men. (The analysis was not limited to prostate cancer, however.) This may be especially apparent in men over age 65, who are more likely than younger men to develop prostate cancer in the first place. A meta-analysis from earlier this year found that fasting insulin levels and HOMA-IR were significantly higher in men with prostate cancer compared to healthy controls, but that this was limited to older men. Other research confirms that hyperinsulinemia is associated with development, progression and aggressiveness of prostate cancer.

A paper in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that elevated fasting insulin and higher HOMA-IR were positively and significantly associated with increased risk for prostate cancer. In the lowest quartile of fasting insulin, prostate cancer incidence was 154 cases per 100,000 person-years. This more than doubled to 394 cases per 100,000 person-years in the highest insulin quartile. Compared to the lowest quartile, the odds ratio of developing prostate cancer in the second, third and fourth quartiles were 1.50 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.75 to 3.03); 1.75 (CI = 0.86 to 3.56); and 2.55 (CI = 1.18 to 5.51), respectively.

It’s worth noting that insulin, but not glucose, was correlated with the increased cancer incidence . As we’ve written about previously, untold numbers of patients are living with hyperinsulinemia but normoglycemia—blood glucose that remains normal owing to pathologically elevated insulin, and this chronically high insulin is a major driver of cardiometabolic disease even while the blood sugar is normal. The scope of this under-recognized issue is staggering ..........

The hyperinsulinemia that often results from androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)—a standard prostate cancer treatment—is “associated with increased tumor aggressiveness and faster treatment failure.” A study published this summer looking at prostate cancer cells in vitro reported for the first time some potential mechanisms by which insulin makes these cells more invasive and mobile and proposes that a greater understanding of strategies to lower insulin levels—such as through diet and/or drugs could “improve both quality of life and overall survival” and may also have direct anti-cancer effects by inhibiting prostate cancer cell proliferation.

It’s reasonable to speculate that hyperinsulinemia—however it’s induced, be it via ADT or through a poor diet and other lifestyle factors—may have the same negative effects on cellular signaling. The ADT issue aside, this is not unique to prostate cancer. Metabolic syndrome—essentially, chronically elevated insulin—is strongly associated with breast cancer recurrence and worse outcomes after treatment, which has led researchers to question the conventional dietary advice for cancer patients, particularly when they’re undergoing or are recovering from treatment, which may include suggestions to consume anything that will help maintain or restore body weight without regard for the sugar or carbohydrate content or the effect of this on insulin levels. Insulin also appears to make pancreatic cancer more aggressive and invasive, and may contribute to development of colon cancer and greater mortality from liver cancer.

As mentioned earlier, many people have normal blood glucose in the presence of chronically high insulin
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A prospective cohort analysis published in the International Journal of Cancer determined that among all study participants (nearly 10,000 people with no previous history of cancer or diabetes), cancer mortality was significantly higher in those with hyperinsulinemia compared to those without hyperinsulinemia (hazard ratio 2.04, 95% CI 1.24–3.34). Looking specifically at subjects who were not obese, those with hyperinsulinemia also had significantly higher cancer mortality (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.07–3.35). The study authors were so bold as to say, “…improvement of hyperinsulinemia may be an important approach for preventing cancer regardless of the presence or absence of obesity.”.............................................

It’s telling that metformin and other diabetes drugs are being studied for use in cancer patients. If drugs that help control blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity have a potential role in fighting unregulated cell division and metastasis, perhaps other strategies that have similar metabolic effects could be investigated as well. For example, ketogenic diets are being studied as adjuvants to conventional therapies. This area of research is in its early stages and while the approach is mechanistically sound, findings are mixed so far and no clear conclusions can yet be drawn.

Whether or not diets that limit insulin excursions may have a therapeutic role in cancer treatment once someone is already afflicted, it appears that remaining insulin sensitive is one piece in the very complex puzzle of reducing risk for cancer or potentially improving outcomes after treatment.

Buddy Blank said...
The site you linked - Designs for Health - sells all manner of what is rightly referred to as snake oil.

In the 2nd link discussing the study linked in NCBI, the study from Journal of the National Cancer Institute? That is fine, I don't care. I suggest you simply avoid their products or info. OTOH, if you take issue with any of their claims or studies they have linked to, that might prove interesting.

Just as a point of information, the website designsforhealth.com is a site that offers supplements. However for two reasons, i dont see any violation of the rules here.
1. The url links to an article on the website, not a product page
2. in order to buy from them you need to have a code that can only be provided by a health practitioner.
My (diagnosing) former urologist who is Chairman of Urology at a major regional branch of an NCCN Cancer Center actually referred me to the site, and recommended one of their products. Did he get paid by them for the referral? Maybe, i have no clue. But they are known for their high qualiity supplements.
Some of us believe in supplements others dont. Which is cool. As long as we express our opinions in a civil tone.

I'm hoping there will be some one interested in discussing the studies presented in both links I provided earlier. My main interest is the OP, a study from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. I have no idea who the people in the 2nd link are or what they sell. But I saw that they were discussing the study in the OP, as well as linking to some other studies. Since I didn't have the full study linked to in the OP, only the pubmed abstract(probably have to buy the study), I thought some additional info from this article- people who might have purchased the entire study, might be useful. I still can't find anything questionable in the 2nd link.

But why am I having to defend myself? Isn't it possible to just have some friendly discussions of scientific studies which provide info that might be useful to all of us? I only hope that I don't end up with yet another closed thread, due to conflicts that that some just have to get started. I hope the thread stays open, in case anyone is interested in the subject of the very common condition of insulin resistance/excess blood insulin and it's possible impact on PC, as well as a host of other diseases. Not that it is a subject that usually generates a lot of interest, but some might indeed be interested.

Let me try to get it back to the subject of the OP: "A subgroup analysis based on gender demonstrated a significant association between fasting insulin level and cancer mortality in men (pooled HR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.23-3.01, P heterogeneity = 0.281).
CONCLUSION:

This dose-response meta-analysis showed a direct significant association between fasting insulin level and cancer mortality in men"..........................................(my comments on the study)might be important that these were non-diabetic men......................................... Point being that the insulin levels run higher the further along the road you get from non-diabetic to pre-diabetic to sho nuff official type 2 diabetes(T2D)...................... In fact, you might even have to be injecting extra insulin...........................

So, presumably in these men whose blood insulin was not all that high- probably about average since none were diagnosed with diabetes, STILL, those with the highest levels had an insignificant increase in mortality and an adjustment - a subgroup adjusted by gender(?) - had a significantly increased cancer mortality. ".

There are several different dietary approaches known to lower blood insulin and improve insulin resistance, that can even do so tremendously, so no supplements or even medicines are needed. Although, Metformin is known to improve insulin resistance, though I don't think it can approach the effect of certain diets. Thoughts about this, anyone?

Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 11/21/2019 11:19:37 AM (GMT-7)