Switching the Sphingolipid Rheostat in the Treatment of Diabetes and Cancer Comorbidity from a Problem to an Advantage

Abstract EN

Cancer and diabetes are among the most common diseases in western societies.

Epidemiological studies have shown that diabetic patients have a significantly higher risk of developing a number of different types of cancers and that individuals with comorbidity (cancer and diabetes/prediabetes) have a poorer prognosis relative to nondiabetic cancer patients.

The increasing frequency of comorbidity of cancer and diabetes mellitus, mainly type 2 diabetes, has driven the development of therapeutic interventions that target both disease states.

There is strong evidence to suggest that balancing the sphingolipid rheostat, ceramide—sphingosine—sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is crucial in the prevention of diabetes and cancer and sphingosine kinase/S1P modulators are currently under development for the treatment of cancer and diabetes.

This paper will highlight some of the complexities inherent in the use of the emerging sphingosine kinase/S1P modulators in the treatment of comorbidity of diabetes and cancer.