Which Protein Can Affect your Risk of Diabetes and Cancer Death?

New research shows that people with elevated levels of the protein prostasin may be at a higher risk of developing diabetes. These new findings also indicate that those with elevated levels of both prostasin and blood sugar are at a significantly higher risk of death from cancer.

The study followed 4,000 middle-aged subjects for over 20 years and found that those with the highest prostasin blood levels at the beginning of the study were 76 percent more likely to develop diabetes as compared to those with the lowest prostasin levels. And those with the highest prostasin levels were also 43 percent more likely to die from cancer. These findings are significant because we know that diabetes is linked to an increased risk of developing several types of cancer and to death from cancer, and medications used to target high blood sugar can help decrease the risk. Those with Type 2 diabetes are almost twice as likely to develop liver, endometrial and pancreatic cancer, have a 30 percent higher chance of developing bowel cancer and a 20 percent increased risk of breast cancer.

Prostasin is found in the epithelial cells that line the surfaces and organs of the body. The protein helps to regulate sodium balance, blood pressure and the amount of blood circulating in the body. More importantly, prostasin has been found to suppress hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) induced tumor growth.

More research needs to be done on prostasin and its relation to diabetes and cancer severity, but it is already regarded as a tumor biomarker and could possibly be used as a valuable early warning sign for the development of diabetes and cancer mortality, especially in people with high blood glucose levels. In the future a simple prostasin blood test could identify patients at risk.