Translating Metabolic Interventions into Breast Cancer Therapy: A Comprehensive Review

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Despite significant advances in targeted therapies, therapeutic resistance, metabolic toxicities, and disease recurrence continue to limit long-term efficacy. Metabolic syndrome is a major epidemiologic risk factor for the development of breast cancer, with metabolic dysregulation strongly linked to tumor progression, recurrence, and mortality. Crosstalk between insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling and oncogenic pathways such as PI3K/AKT/mTOR provides a mechanistic basis for these associations, highlighting the interplay between metabolism and tumor biology. Given this context, anti-diabetic and anti-obesity agents are being investigated as novel therapeutic strategies in breast cancer. Beyond their established metabolic benefits, these agents can directly modulate tumor cell growth, immune responses, and signaling pathways central to breast cancer pathogenesis. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the intersection of metabolic dysregulation and breast cancer as well as critically evaluate preclinical and clinical evidence supporting the use of metabolic therapies in this space.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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