Epidemiology

Diabetes increases risk of cancer mortality

Last Updated: 2004-07-02 11:15:10 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Diabetes appears to be independently predictive of mortality from a number of types of cancer, according to results of a study published in the June 15th issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Moreover, high body mass does not account for these associations.

"Several studies have suggested that diabetes mellitus may alter the risk of developing a variety of cancers, and the associations are biologically plausible," Dr. Steven S. Coughlin, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, Georgia, point out

To investigate further, the team examined the sex-specific association between diabetes and cancer mortality in a prospective cohort of 467,922 men and 588,321 women with no history of cancer at baseline in 1982.

After 16 years of mortality follow-up, a significant association was observed between diabetes and fatal colon cancer. In men the relative risk was 1.20 and in women, it was 1.24. There also was an increased relative risk of pancreatic cancer in men (1.48) and women (1.44).

Diabetes was significantly associated with liver cancer and bladder cancer in men. The corresponding relative risks were 2.19 and 1.43. For women, diabetes was significantly associated with breast cancer (relative risk, 1.27).

The researchers note that study had a number of limitations, but conclude that the findings "may help to clarify cancer risks for men and women with a history of diabetes mellitus."

Am J Epidemiol 2004;159:1160-1167.