Lactate, a Neglected Factor for Diabetes and Cancer Interaction

Wu et al., authors of this study, explain that according to different studies, worldwide diabetes mellitus (DM) and cancer are two of the main diseases, with cancer the second and diabetes the twelfth primary causes of death. Recent studies suggest that type 2 diabetes is an independent risk factor for the progress of various types of cancer.

According to Wu et al, taking into account that hyperlactacidemia is the most imperative biological feature of diabetes and cancer, it is reasonable to imagine that it might play an important role during diabetes and cancer interaction. In this study, Wu et al. review the available evidence of the role of lactate in different biological characteristics of diabetes and cancer and the interactive relationship between them.

Both cancer and diabetes have been associated with unusual lactate metabolism. An elevated level of lactate production is the key biological property of these diseases. Contrarily, high lactate levels contribute to a higher insulin resistant status and a more malignant phenotype of cancer cells, which promotes diabetes and cancer development and progression.

The authors inform that existing evidence shows that some diabetes treatments might have important therapeutic significance in cancer patients and that monocarboxylate transporters/lactate transport inhibitors are employed therapeutically to repress cancer metastasis.

Wu et al. finish their study confirming that more interdisciplinary approaches are needed in order to expose the mechanisms underlying the association between these two illnesses and, ultimately improve clinical outcomes.

This study was carried out by Yong Wu, Yunzhou Dong, Mohammad Atefi, Yanjun Liu, Yahya Elshimali and Jaydutt V. Vadgama and published in 2016 by Hindawi Publishing Corporation (Volume 2016, Article ID 6456018)

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Lactate, a Neglected Factor for Diabetes and Cancer Interaction