Diabetes and cancer
Guivannucci et al state that diabetes (primarily type 2) is associated with increased risk for some cancers (liver, pancreas, endometrium, colon and rectum, breast) (1)
- diabetes is associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer (1,2,3)
- possible mechanisms for a direct link between diabetes and cancer include hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and inflammation
- about 8-18% of patients with cancer have diabetes (3)
- although still limited, early evidence suggests that metformin is associated with a lower risk of cancer and that exogenous insulin is associated with an increased cancer risk (1)
Diabetes and mortality and cancer
- in 2021, Pearson-Stuttard and colleagues evaluated causes of death trends in over 300,000 individuals with diabetes in England (2001-18) concluded that "the decline in vascular death rates has been accompanied by....a transition ...to cancers as the leading contributor to diabetes-related deaths"
Reference:
- Giovannucci E, Harlan DM, Archer MC, Bergenstal RM, Gapstur SM, Habel LA, Pollak M, Regensteiner JG, Yee D. Diabetes and cancer: a consensus report. Diabetes Care. 2010 Jul;33(7):1674-85. doi: 10.2337/dc10-0666. PMID: 20587728; PMCID: PMC2890380
- Vigneri P, Frasca F, Sciacca L, Pandini G, Vigneri R. Diabetes and cancer. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2009 Dec;16(4):1103-23. doi: 10.1677/ERC-09-0087. Epub 2009 Jul 20. PMID: 19620249
- Zhu B, Qu S. The Relationship Between Diabetes Mellitus and Cancers and Its Underlying Mechanisms. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Feb 11;13:800995. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.800995. PMID: 35222270; PMCID: PMC8873103.
- Pearson-Stuttard J, Bennett J, Cheng YJ, Vamos EP, Cross AJ, Ezzati M, Gregg EW. Trends in predominant causes of death in individuals with and without diabetes in England from 2001 to 2018: an epidemiological analysis of linked primary care records. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2021 Mar;9(3):165-173. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30431-9. Epub 2021 Feb 4. PMID: 33549162; PMCID: PMC7886654.