The common knowledge that people with viral hepatitis, such as hepatitis B or C, and people who consume moldy food for a long time are more likely to develop liver cancer has long been known. And liver cancer has long been misunderstood as a “poor man’s cancer” because of its lower incidence in developed countries.
But what many people don’t know is that the “disease of the rich” today, diabetes, is also closely related to liver cancer.
Studies have found that people with diabetes have a significantly higher risk of developing liver cancer. The risk of liver cancer increased 2-fold in patients with combined diabetes, 3-fold in those with combined diabetes and hypertension, and 4-fold in those with combined diabetes, hypertension, and hepatitis C.
Why does diabetes increase the risk of liver cancer so much? Available research suggests that it may be related to the following factors.
High blood sugar
The liver is the body’s “chemical factory,” converting sugar into energy reserves or into other substances that the body needs.
Patients with diabetes are chronically hyperglycemic, which exceeds the liver’s ability to handle it, resulting in an imbalance in liver metabolism and possibly triggering liver cancer.
Also, glucose is the only source of energy for tumor cells, and tumor cells need a lot of glucose to grow. The long-term hyperglycemic state of diabetic patients meets the growth needs of tumor cells even more and promotes tumor growth.
Insulin resistance and deficiency
We know that insulin is a specialized blood sugar-lowering hormone in the body that is responsible for opening the door for glucose in the blood to enter the cells. With its hard work standing guard, our blood sugar is able to stay in the normal range.
“Insulin resistance” is when insulin goes on strike, causing glucose to enter the cells less efficiently. The body finds it surprising that blood sugar is still so high, so it compensates by producing more insulin, resulting in “hyperinsulinemia”.
Insulin is an important hormone for cell growth and metabolism, regulating the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, and fats. Excess insulin promotes cell proliferation, which may eventually induce tumors.
Insulin deficiency can also lead to diabetes, and reduced amounts of insulin itself can cause the liver to be unable to fully break down body fat, leading to a large accumulation of free fatty acids in the liver, resulting in liver cell necrosis and fibrosis and inducing liver cancer.
Genetic factors
Diabetes and liver cancer both have a genetic predisposition. It has been found that defects in the NCOA5 gene lead to the co-occurrence of liver cancer and diabetes in men.
The NCOA5 gene is an oncogene (gene that inhibits tumorigenesis) expressed in both men and women, and estrogen can have antagonistic effects on primary liver cancer and hypoglycemia through the NCOA5 gene.
This is probably one of the reasons why the incidence of primary liver cancer is significantly higher in men than in women.
Immune dysfunction
A prolonged state of hyperglycemia can lead to a disruption of the body’s immune system, which can lead to malignant liver cells not being recognized and cleared by the body in a timely manner, triggering the development of liver cancer.
The above reasons may increase the risk of liver cancer in patients with diabetes. Therefore, while we pay attention to diabetes treatment, we should not neglect to check the liver and liver function.