Prostate cancer It is a disease that It represents the second cause of death from cancer in men in Chile, after stomach cancer. 90% of cases are diagnosed in men over 65 years of age.
This cancer “occupies first place in frequency in men, followed by lung cancer and colorectal cancer. In Chile, prostate cancer represents the most common solid tumor in men” according to specialists from Department of Urology of INDISA Clinic.
A study, developed by Carolina Echeverría, PhD in Biomedicine of the University of the AndesChilean researcher, in the the relationship between fructose in processed foods and the development and aggressiveness of prostate cancer was discovered.
The analysis showed that frequent and high consumption of processed fructose stimulates proliferation and aggressiveness in in vitro and in vivo models of prostate cancer.
A discovery that adds to the relationship between processed fructose and cancers of the colon, rectum, pancreas, breast and lung.
The work, funded by Fondecyt and carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Alejandro Godoy at the U. San Sebastián, was based on previous work that found proteins that were overexpressed in prostate cancer and these proteins are associated with fructose uptake.
It is a type of sugar, which is normally found in fruits, vegetables and honey, for example, “let’s say that It is a first cousin of glucose” explains Echeverria.
The common sugar (sucrose) that we consume every day is the union of a glucose molecule with a fructose molecule.
“It is a molecule found in fruits and in small quantities it does no harm” The researcher points out that this is why people can eat fruit because, in addition to containing fructose, it is mixed with other things: nutrients, minerals, fiber, etc.
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What it provides to the body is energy, just like glucose, the only difference is that they are chemically different and are metabolically degraded differently.
This type of fructose can be found in sweets, canned peach, pineapple or beans, artificial juices, ice creams with artificial colors, and soft drinksamong others.
The problem lies inWhen a person starts consuming products that have high concentrations fructose, that is, “foods that are highly processed. For examplesugary drinks, or ready-to-drink fruit juices, or it is also found in all canned foods” says Echeverría.
Frequent consumption could cause someone who is at risk of developing cancer to develop it more quickly or simply excessive consumption could cause the disease.
The researchers used mouse models for the research, “because in a way we can extrapolate the months of life of a mouse to the years of life of a human.
In the study, in mice “what has been seen in prostate cancer in research that I did, which By giving these little mice daily doses of fructose, they develop the size of the prostate tumor that is larger“That is, fructose enhances prostate cancer cell growth.”
“That is what they are investigating a lot, how beneficial it would be to accompany a patient who has cancer, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment, to have a balanced diet specific to that person” explains the doctor in Biomedicine.
However, the effect of eliminating fructose from the diet has not yet been well studied. “But it would make a lot of sense to completely reduce the consumption of processed foods and specifically drinks to prevent, because in addition to preventing, one is avoiding everything that comes with the development of diabetes.”
The research that took about 6 years, published its first part in 2021, and the researchers are soon to publish the second part where they will demonstrate that Fructose is capable of stimulating the generation of lipids in prostate cancer.
