Cancer mimics diabetes
Cancer is one of the diseases causing the greatest number of deaths in France. It is a disease that causes many side effects, such as thinness in some cases. Many cancer patients die of this extreme thinness, also called cachexia . What is it due to?
Most often, patients suffering from cachexia can no longer tolerate chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatments. They are very weak . Researchers at Harvard Medical University conducted a study on the causes of this significant weight loss.
Learn more about the study
The results, published in the medical journal Cell in April 2015 (1) demonstrate that this cachexia * is due to the release of a protein by the tumor, which would block the production of insulin. Remember that insulin is a hormone involved in the absorption of glucose by the body. Glucose has a big role in providing energy in our body. So, if the patient has no glucose, he has no energy and cannot withstand heavy treatments to cure his cancer.
The researchers therefore came to the conclusion that the cancer cell mimicked the phenomenon of diabetes . Indeed, remember that a diabetic lacks, or is unable to activate the release of insulin in his body, thus preventing the absorption of glucose. In the case of cancer, the cancerous cells absorb mass glucose, while the rest of the body increasingly lacks it.
The same phenomenon had already been observed in a previous study carried out on insects. In the latter, a molecule called lmpL2 was secreted by tumors, leading to a loss of fatty mass and muscle tissue, corresponding, in humans, to weakening and cachexia. lmpL2 is the equivalent of the hormone blocking the action of insulin in humans.
The insect study also showed that lowering lmpL2 levels reduced weight loss and weakness. It now remains to be discovered whether reducing the equivalent of this hormone in humans would help fight against cachexia. If this were the case, this could broaden the treatment of cancers and improve their management. Remember that most people with cancer do not die because of the local effects of the tumours, but much more because of the side effects and the changes induced by these tumours.
* cachexia: The formal definition of cachexia is the loss of body mass such that it can no longer be reversed or found with the help of proper nutrition. It is observed during several diseases: anorexia nervosa, cancer (cancerous cachexia, produced by substances secreted by the tumour, cachexins. (Wikipedia)
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.