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According to a brand new study accepted for publication inside the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), older guys with high levels with the hormone IGF-I (insulin-like growth factor 1) are at increased risk of cancer death, independent of age, lifestyle and cancer history.
IGF-I is a protein hormone similar in structure to insulin and is regulated in the body by growth hormone (GH). Levels of GH and IGF-I decline progressively with age in both males and ladies and this drop is thought to be related to deteriorating health conditions found with advanced age. In an attempt to combat aging some people use GH as its actions elevate IGF-1.This study nevertheless showed that older men who had greater levels of IGF-I were far more probably to die from a cancer-related cause within the following 18 years than males with lower levels.
“This is the initial population-based study to show an association of higher IGF-I levels with increased threat of a cancer-related death in older men,” said Gail Laughlin, PhD, with the University of California San Diego, and corresponding author of the study. “Although the design of this study will not explicitly show that the higher IGF-I levels caused the cancer death, it does encourage more study at the same time as a reexamination with the use of IGF-I enhancing therapies as an anti-aging strategy.”
In this study researchers used data on 633 males aged 50 and older from the Rancho Bernardo Study, a population-based study of healthy aging. Study participants took part in a analysis clinic examination in between the years of 1988 and 1991 where their blood was obtained and IGF-1 was measured. All participants had their vital status followed via July 2006. Researchers found that guys in this study who had IGF-I levels above 100 ng/ml had almost twice the danger of cancer death in the following 18 years than males with lower levels.
“In this study, the elevated risk of cancer death for older men with high levels of IGF-I was not explained by differences in age, body size, lifestyle or cancer history,” mentioned Jacqueline Major, PhD, lead author on the study, now at the National Cancer Institute. “If these results are confirmed in other populations, these findings recommend that serum IGF-I may have possible importance as a biomarker for prognostic testing.”
Other researchers working on the study include: the Principal Investigator and founder with the Rancho Bernardo Study, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor; and Donna Kritz-Silverstein and Deborah Wingard with the University of California, San Diego.
The post, “Insulin-like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) and Cancer Mortality in Older Men,” will appear within the March 2010 issue of JCEM.
Source:
Aaron Lohr
The Endocrine Society