Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition and Progression of Breast Cancer Promoted by Diabetes Mellitus in Mice Are Associated with Increased Expression of Glycolytic and Proteolytic Enzymes.

The development of breast cancer (BC) is influenced by age, overweight, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes mellitus (DM), which are associated with hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress. High glucose concentration increases a metastatic phenotype in cultured breast cancer cells, promoting cell proliferation, reactive species production (ROS), epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), and expression of proteolytic enzymes. Our aim was to determine whether diabetes mellitus favor BC progression in mice and its association with changes in the content of ROS and glycolytic and proteolytic enzymes.