A paper published in the most recent issue of Postgraduate Medicine brings to mind the importance of insulin regulation in cancer prevention and treatment. The authors studied the interplay between the use of insulin therapy in diabetes and cancer.

“According to 2007 estimates, 27% of all patients with diabetes use some form of insulin therapy. The increasing utilization of insulin has become a cause for concern because findings from several observational trials have suggested an association with an increased risk of developing cancer.”

The authors undertook a review of scientific studies that assessed the carcinogenic or mitogenic effects of insulin therapy [mitogenic = stimulating mitosis, thus increasing the rate of existing tumor growth]. Here’s how the evidence weighed in:

“Data from our review suggest that insulin analogs…may play more of a mitogenic than a carcinogenic role in association with different types of cancer, suggesting an amplified rate of existing tumor growth in the presence of insulin analogs. Evidence for insulin-induced mitogenicity appears to be most prevalent in prostate, breast, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers.”

I don’t think I can emphasize enough the importance of healthy insulin regulation in cancer prevention and treatment. As the authors state in their conclusion:

“…clinicians must be diligent in both screening for new cancers in patients receiving insulin and in monitoring for tumor growth or maintenance of remission in patients with existing cancers.”