Does Sugar Intake Increase Cancer Risk?

You might want to cut back on your sugar -- and this time, it's not for weight loss purposes.

Published in the Jan.1, 2016 online issue of Cancer Research, a team of researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered that the high amounts of sugar, particularly sugar in the Western-style diet, puts a person at higher risk for various types of cancer. While two thirds of cancers stem from poor lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise, the team's findings boosts research of the same kind that discourages people from the Western style diet, according a report by Today.

To test their theory, the team of scientists studied mice and the "impact of dietary sugar on mammary gland tumor development" as well as other factors that also play a role in it. "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." said co-author Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine from MD Anderson, as per Science 20.

"We found that sucrose intake in mice comparable to levels of Western diets led to increased tumor growth and metastasis, when compared to a non-sugar starch diet," said Peiying Yang, PhD, assistant professor of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine and co-author of the study. "This was due, in part, to increased expression of 12-LOX and a related fatty acid called 12-HETE," she added.

The results also shed a light on the importance of a healthy diet even if the person is already afflicted with cancer. "A lot of patients are told it doesn't matter what you eat after you are diagnosed with cancer. This preliminary animal research suggests that it does matter," noted Cohen.

Past studies have also warned particularly against dietary sugar's impact on the development of breast cancer -- of which inflammation is the primary effect on the person.

The authors advised that spotting and recognizing risk factors  for breast cancer is a public health priority. Moreover, they also informed that moderate sugar consumption is critical, adding that the per capita consumption of sugar has increased to more than 100 lbs in the U.S. They furthered that the prevailing penchant of many to sweetened beverages has significantly contributed to obesity, cardiac illnesses and cancer worldwide.