Chromosomal abnormalities could explain the increased risk of blood cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes. This is the observation that has just been made by a Franco-British team of researchers led by Prof. Froguel, from the Genomics and Metabolic Diseases laboratory (CNRS / University of Lille2 / Institut Pasteur de Lille) and Imperial College London.
We already knew that the Type 2 diabetes, a disease that accelerates aging, increased the risk of hematological cancers such as leukemia or lymphomas. But until now the reasons for this association were poorly understood by researchers.
In Nature Genetics, we learn that researchers have succeeded in pinpointing one of the keys to the mystery. The explanations lie on the side of “clonal mosaic chromosomal abnormalities” (MCA). This anomaly has the particularity of affecting a large part or even all of the chromosomes and appears in the DNA of blood or saliva cells of elderly people.
Very rare in young people, these MCAs affect an average of 2% of those over 70 years old. This anomaly increases the risk of hematological cancers, according to a CNRS press release.
Help in the early detection of leukemia in diabetics
The researchers, starting from the postulate that type 2 diabetes increases the risk of leukemia, wanted to see if there was a link with chromosomal abnormalities. The results proved them right. By analyzing the genome of 7,437 people over 50 (including 2,208 type 2 diabetics), the scientists discovered that MCAs are four times more numerous in patients with type 2 diabetes than in control subjects. In diabetics, these MCAs are also associated with vascular complications.
These conclusions could help in the early detection of “pre-cancerous states” in diabetics, explains Professor Froguel. “[Ces patients] could be treated at the first signs of leukemia with mild chemotherapy “.