Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Laboratory for Technologies of Advanced Therapies (LTTA)-Electron Microscopy Center, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Nutrients. 2024 Sep 25;16(19):3243. doi: 10.3390/nu16193243.
Breast cancer (BC) represents the most prevalent cancer in women at any age after puberty. From a pathogenetic prospective, despite a wide array of risk factors being identified thus far, poor metabolic health is emerging as a putative risk factor for BC. In particular, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) provides a perfect example bridging the gap between poor metabolic health and BC risk. Indeed, T2DM is preceded by a status of hyperinsulinemia and is characterised by hyperglycaemia, with both factors representing potential contributors to BC onset and progression. Additionally, the aberrant secretome of the dysfunctional, hypertrophic adipocytes, typical of obesity, characterised by pro-inflammatory mediators, is a shared pathogenetic factor between T2DM and BC. In this review, we provide an overview on the effects of hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinemia, hallmarks of type 2 diabetes mellitus, on breast cancer risk, progression, treatment and prognosis. Furthermore, we dissect the role of the adipose-tissue-secreted adipokines as additional players in the pathogenesis of BC. Finally, we focus on microalgae as a novel superfood and a source of nutraceuticals able to mitigate BC risk by improving metabolic health and targeting cellular pathways, which are disrupted in the context of T2DM and obesity.
乳腺癌（BC）是青春期后任何年龄段女性最常见的癌症。从发病机制的角度来看，尽管迄今为止已经确定了广泛的危险因素，但代谢健康不良正成为 BC 的一个潜在危险因素。特别是 2 型糖尿病（T2DM）为代谢健康不良和 BC 风险之间的差距提供了一个完美的例子。事实上，T2DM 之前存在高胰岛素血症的状态，并以高血糖为特征，这两个因素都可能导致 BC 的发生和进展。此外，肥胖症特有的功能失调、肥大的脂肪细胞的异常分泌组，以促炎介质为特征，是 T2DM 和 BC 的共同发病因素。在这篇综述中，我们概述了 2 型糖尿病的标志，即高血糖和高胰岛素血症，对乳腺癌风险、进展、治疗和预后的影响。此外，我们剖析了脂肪组织分泌的脂肪因子作为乳腺癌发病机制中额外的参与者的作用。最后，我们专注于微藻作为一种新型超级食品和营养保健品的来源，通过改善代谢健康和针对 T2DM 和肥胖症背景下失调的细胞途径，来降低乳腺癌的风险。
