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New research in The Journal of Immunology uncovers how high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and type 1 diabetes (T1D) may protect against certain cancers like melanoma, breast and colon cancer. T1D has been associated with a decreased risk of certain cancers, but the exact reasons why have remained a mystery. New data from studies in mice now show that it could be due to changes in immune cells, called T cells, caused by hyperglycemia.

To untangle why patients with T1D have a decreased risk of certain cancers, the researchers first observed that tumor growth in mice with hyperglycemia, like in untreated T1D, was reduced when compared to diabetic mice receiving insulin and mice with normal blood sugar levels.

When the researchers investigated what caused the tumors to grow more slowly in hyperglycemic mice, they found that hyperglycemia was reprogramming T cells to better control tumor growth.

The hyperglycemic mice not only had a greater number of T cells, but those T cells were found to be more effective at fighting tumors. The researchers say this is likely because hyperglycemia causes the body to maintain more inflammatory immune cells, which contributes to their cancer-fighting ability. When T1D mice received insulin to control their blood sugar, the T cells lost their heightened cancer-fighting abilities.

To better understand the specific changes in the T cells from hyperglycemic mice, the researchers compared T cells from hyperglycemic mice, diabetic mice receiving insulin and mice with normal blood sugar levels to identify the changes that caused the heightened cancer-fighting ability.

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