Elevated IGF-1 May Indicate Increased Risk of Early Breast Cancer – (01-08-01)

Elevated IGF-1 May Indicate Increased Risk of Early Breast Cancer

Elevated IGF-1 has also been linked to prostate cancer. These findings continue to worry me with the use of human growth hormone (HGH) as an anti-aging “miracle.” Want to live longer? Cut your caloric intake by 30%, which has consistently and reproducible extended life spans in other mammals.

Int J Cancer 2000;88:828-832 Elevated serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) may identify women who are likely to develop breast cancer before age 50. In postmenopausal women, the authors found that the various blood tests were not predictive of breast cancer risk. However, in premenopausal women, increased levels of IGF-1 were associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The odds ratio for breast cancer was 1.60 in the highest quartile of IGF-1 level compared with the lowest. After adjusting for IGFBP-3 levels, the risk of breast cancer was slightly reduced, the researchers note. “The results on IGF-1 represent a substantial achievement, given the nearly complete lack of biological markers at our disposal to conduct observational and intervention studies in pre-menopausal women, who represent more than one-fourth of all breast-cancer cases,” the researchers conclude.