Mysterious Link Connects Diabetes And Cancer

Most people wouldn't think diabetes and cancer have anything to do with each other. But a group of experts from the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association thinks they do.

A consensus statement from that panel says there's accumulating evidence that people with diabetes are, in fact, more prone to certain cancers. The analysis is published in the latest CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

It turns out that diabetics are twice as likely to get cancer of the liver, pancreas and uterine lining. Their risk of colon, breast and bladder cancer is 20 to 50 percent higher than non-diabetics'. There doesn't seem to be any higher risk for others, such as lung cancer. And the risk of prostate cancer is actually lower among diabetics.

Doctors have noticed since the 1950s that their diabetic patients seem to get cancer more often than usual. But it wasn't until last year that researchers pulled together data from various studies and found an association.

Also last year, several epidemiology studies got a lot of attention when they suggested that a synthetic long-acting insulin called glargine seems to increase the risk of cancer. But that's still highly debatable.

Other studies indicate that metformin, the most common drug for Type 2 diabetes, may actually reduce the risk of getting cancer or dying from it.

And just how might diabetes increase the risk of cancer? On that point there's only speculation. Here are some possibilities:

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http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/06/16/127877048/diabetes-and-cancer...