Breast Cancer Cure Already Known?

It has already been established that breast cancer probability increases in step with weight gain. If we know this to be true, the probability can decrease with weight loss. You didn't hear anyone at the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium state Breast Cancer is a metabolic disorder, but is it?

The Genesis Prevention Center at University Hospital in South Manchester, England has recently completed study that showed even intermittent low-carbohydrate diet is superior to a standard and calorie-restricted diet for reducing weight and insulin levels. They state that losing weight and lowering insulin levels are good preventative measures for breast cancer.

A recent study by the American Association for Cancer Research (2011) studied the effects of Western diet (55% carbohydrate, 23% protein, 22% fat) and low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet (15% carbohydrate, 58% protein, 26% fat) on mice that had been predisposed to contract cancer. The cancer was implanted human and mouse tumor cells. It was found that the tumor cells grew consistently slower on the low-carbohydrate diet.

With relation to breast cancer:

"As well, mice genetically predisposed to breast cancer were put on these two diets and almost half of them on the Western diet developed breast cancer within their first year of life while none on the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet did. Interestingly, only one on the Western diet reached a normal life span (approximately 2 years), with 70 percent of them dying from cancer while only 30 percent of those on the low-carbohydrate diet developed cancer and more than half these mice reached or exceeded their normal life span."

So, of those mice predisposed to contract cancer that were on the low-carbohydrate diet:

Only 30% developed cancer and more than half reached or exceeded normal life span.

So what if these mice were not predisposed for cancer, what would be the contraction rate of cancer be? Probably near zero. Why is this so? The hypothesis given by Gerald Krystal, Ph.D. at the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre stated:
"...that tumor cells, unlike normal cells, need significantly more glucose to grow and thrive. Restricting carbohydrate intake can significantly limit blood glucose and insulin, a hormone that has been shown in many independent studies to promote tumor growth in both humans and mice."

So should we be using insulin as a predictor in contraction of breast cancer? Obviously if insulin resistance is present and an individual is obese, their insulin is out of whack - so is it correct to say obesity causes increased risk or is it insulin? Obesity and weight gain in general is an affect of out of control insulin and increased blood-glucose levels for an extended period of time. If women and men alike can begin taking better care of themselves and severely decreasing carbohydrate intake, I have a feeling breast cancer and cancer in general will begin to decrease rapidly.

Part of the problem, however is that even the lead researcher of the Genesis study, Michelle Harvie, states that individuals should go on an intermittent low-carbohydrate diet. Why? Why not go all out and change to a low-carbohydrate lifestyle. This is yet another major medical issue, i.e. diabetes where researchers, dieticians and the like have scientific data with a flashing exclamation mark, yet they are half-assing their suggestion on where to go with it.

Type-II diabetics are told to lower high GI carbs and take medication (manage it), rather than cut them out and be potentially 'cured'. And now breast cancer (and other cancer) sufferers and 'potentials' are told to moderately decrease their carbohydrate load a couple days a week. It is as if to say, go for the 25% decreased risk rather than the 100%.

Sources:
1)http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110614115037.htm2)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/08/low-carb-diet_n_1136765.html