A new study published by researchers at Arizona State University, led by Dr. Carlo Maley, in Nature Communications set out to examine whether vertebrates that have high blood sugar are at greater risk of developing cancer. The current study follows on the heels of prior work by his team that was published in Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health last summer showing that cancer prevalence is lower in birds than other vertebrates.
“We knew that birds get less cancer than mammals, and they also have very high levels of glucose in their blood. That made us wonder if there was some connection,” senior author Carlo Maley said in a press release from Arizona State University.
The current findings that birds have a lower cancer risk than mammals or reptiles even though they have higher blood sugar and longer lifespans, was still surprising as these characteristics are typically associated with cancer risk in humans. The team also found that within species of birds, mammals or reptiles, blood glucose levels were not associated with cancer rates.
“Future studies investigating the evolutionary history and mechanisms linking diet, plasma glucose levels and cancer prevalence across vertebrates would provide further clues about the observed diversity among species and inform strategies for more effective cancer prevention and treatment across vertebrates,” first author, Stefania Kapsetaki said in a quote provided in the press release.
The researchers also discovered that tumors occur more often in animals that consume carnivorous diets as compared to herbivores, which they suspect may be due to the accumulation of harmful compounds in the food chain. But they found no clear link between diet and blood sugar across the species examined in the study.
“The lack of an overall connection between diet and blood sugar in the species examined in this study suggests that these animals are largely consuming foods designed for them as their diet was not manipulated for the study,” co-author Karen Sweazea said. “Even when our lab fed birds diets high in fat or sugar, which are known to increase blood sugar and cancer risk in humans, the birds show no changes in their blood sugar response. They are remarkably resilient animals.”
Sources:
SE Kapsetaki, AJ Basile, ZT Compton, SM Rupp, EG Duke, AM Boddy, TM Harrison, KL Sweazea, CC Maley. The relationship between diet, plasma glucose, and cancer prevalence across vertebrates. Nature Communications. 16: 2271, 2025.
SE Kapsetaki, ZT Compton, J Dolan, VΚ Harris, W Mellon, SM Rupp, EG Duke, TM Harrison, S Aksoy, M Giraudeau, O Vincze, KJ McGraw, A Aktipis, M Tollis, AM Boddy, CC Maley. Life history traits and cancer prevalence in birds. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. 12(1): 105-116, 2024.
Categories: Aging, Comparative Physiology, Extreme Animals, Nature's Solutions
Tags: Blood sugar, cancer, diet, food, health, medicine, nutrition
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 