Overview

• Peer-reviewed research in Communications Biology reports the first direct mechanistic link between type 2 diabetes and suppressed immune activity inside human breast tumors.
• Plasma exosomes from donors with type 2 diabetes reprogrammed tumor-infiltrating immune cells and increased measures of tumor aggression in patient-derived organoid models.
• Scientists grew breast tumor organoids that preserved original immune cells, exposed them to exosomes from people with and without diabetes, and analyzed changes using single-cell RNA sequencing.
• The findings offer a plausible explanation for poorer breast cancer outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and may help clarify why some immunotherapies perform less effectively in this group, according to the authors.
• Researchers emphasize that results come from in vitro models and call for in vivo validation, clinical correlation, and exploration of therapeutic strategies targeting exosome-driven effects.