Diabetes, Obesity, and Inflammation: Impact on Clinical and Radiographic Features of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Obesity, diabetes, and inflammation increase the risk of breast cancer, the most common malignancy in women. One of the mainstays of breast cancer treatment and improving outcomes is early detection through imaging-based screening. There may be a role for individualized imaging strategies for patients with certain co-morbidities. Herein, we review the literature regarding the accuracy of conventional imaging modalities in obese and diabetic women, the potential role of anti-inflammatory agents to improve detection, and the novel molecular imaging techniques that may have a role for breast cancer screening in these patients. We demonstrate that with conventional imaging modalities, increased sensitivity often comes with a loss of specificity, resulting in unnecessary biopsies and overtreatment. Obese women have body size limitations that impair image quality, and diabetes increases the risk for dense breast tis-sue. Increased density is known to obscure the diagnosis of cancer on routine screening mammography. Novel molecu-lar imaging agents with targets such as estrogen receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), pyrimi-dine analogues, and ligand-targeted receptor probes, among others, have potential to reduce false positive results. They can also improve detection rates with increased resolution and inform therapeutic decision making. These emerg-ing imaging techniques promise to improve breast cancer diagnosis in obese patients with diabetes who have dense breasts, but more work is needed to validate their clinical application.

Tumor targetable and pH-sensitive polymer nanoparticles for simultaneously improve the Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and malignant breast cancer

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that diabetes was one of the most important risk factors for developing breast cancer in women [ 30 , 31 ]. More importantly, patients with breast cancer and diabetes have significant higher risk for all-cause mortality than those without diabetes [ 5 , 32 ].…”

Exosome-based delivery nanoplatforms: next-generation theranostic platforms for breast cancer

“…29,30 Along with the increasing incidence of these diseases, the incidence of breast cancer is also increasing yearly, albeit slowly. 31 A better understanding of the role played by exosomes in the transformation of pre-breast cancer disease into breast cancer may therefore be important for the prevention, diagnosis and therapy of breast cancer.…”

High Glucose Accelerates Tumor Progression by Regulating MEDAG-Mediated Autophagy Levels in Breast Cancer

“…The worldwide incidence and mortality of BC in females have almost doubled in the past 30 years 2 . The latest study revealed that 18% of patients with BC have previously been diagnosed with diabetes 3 . Diabetes is linked to highly aggressive BCs.…”

“…Diabetes is linked to highly aggressive BCs. Specifically, the risk of death from BC is increased by 24-44% in diabetic women 3 . However, the underlying mechanism is unclear.…”