Antidiabetic diet and cancer

A recent study has examined the relationship between dietary patterns prior to the diagnosis of breast cancer and the survival of these patients.

The study was led by scientists from the Nutrition and Cancer Research Group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), located in Hospitalet de Llobregat and part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Specialists from the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) have also participated.

The study has been published in the academic journal British Journal of Cancer.

The research team has examined the relationship between dietary patterns prior to the diagnosis of breast cancer and the survival of patients. The study was carried out using a European cohort that included 13,270 women with breast cancer from 9 different countries and who were followed up for an average of nine years after their diagnosis.

From the information on diet collected in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation in Cancer and Nutrition) study, three dietary patterns have been calculated that are related to decisive biological mechanisms in breast cancer: estrogen levels, insulin resistance, and chronic low-grade inflammation Subsequently, the relationship between each of these dietary patterns and survival after breast cancer has been analysed.

The dietary pattern associated with lower risk of diabetes, also called the “anti-diabetic diet”, is defined as being high in fiber, coffee, nuts, healthy fats, whole fruit with a low glycemic index, little consumption of trans fats, beverages sweetened, juices and red and processed meat. The results observed indicate that those women who followed a more anti-diabetic diet, before being diagnosed with breast cancer, had a 22% higher survival than that of women who followed more pro-diabetic diets. In contrast, women who followed more pro-inflammatory diets before diagnosis (rich in meat, sugary products, and fats) had 6% lower survival compared with women who followed more anti-inflammatory diets. On the other hand, those women who had a diet with characteristics of anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory patterns (more consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole wheat bread, fish, yogurt, coffee and tea), had a 17% increase in survival after diagnosis, compared with those following opposite dietary patterns (pro-diabetic and pro-inflammatory).

“This study, and the data that can be extracted from it, provide evidence that adherence to an anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory diet could improve the prognosis of women who have suffered from breast cancer,” explains Carlota Castro-Espin, a researcher at the IDIBELL and ICO, as well as co-author of the research.

Carlota Castro-Espin. (Photo: IDIBELL)

“Therefore, this can help define specific dietary recommendations for these patients, which currently do not exist,” argues Castro-Espin. “However, additional studies are needed to examine other dietary patterns, and especially studies where evaluate nutritional intervention programs in breast cancer survivors in order to establish these recommendations”. (Source: IDIBELL)