Sugar Consumption May Increase Breast And Lung Cancer Risk, Study Says

Researchers have discovered yet another reason to add to the increasing pile of motivations for minimal sugar intake. In addition to diabetes, obesity, and heart health, now sugar consumption has been linked to an increased risk for breast and lung cancer.University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers found that a sugary diet is more likely to lead to breast cancer development with inflammation of the mammary gland as the cause.

The study looked at the effects of increased sucrose and fructose consumption in mice on cancer cell development, and found that mice that consumed more sugar were at risk for tumor growth in both the mammary glands and the lungs. The mice with a heavy sucrose diet were almost twice as likely to cultivate tumors (60 percent), as the mice on a starch-controlled diet (30 percent).

"The current study investigated the impact of dietary sugar on mammary gland tumor development in multiple mouse models, along with mechanisms that may be involved," said co-author Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine said in a statement. "We determined that it was specifically fructose, in table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, ubiquitous within our food system, which was responsible for facilitating lung metastasis and 12-HETE production in breast tumors."