Diabetes Poses Cancer Risk

The occurrence of pancreatic andliver cancer is greater among diabetespatients. During the ThirdAnnual Frontiers in Cancer PreventionResearch Meeting (October 18,2004), investigators presented findingsbased on whether individualsreporting a prior diagnosis of diabeteswere more likely to have cancer.The study involved a comparisonof 3288 men diagnosed with 12different cancer types and 509healthy individuals.

The results showed that patientswith diabetes mellitus have 3 to 4times the risk of liver cancer and >2times the risk of developing pancreaticcancer, compared with nondiabetespatients. In the current study,however, patients with diabetes didnot have increased risks for othercancer types, including cancers ofthe esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum,lung, prostate, bladder, and kidney.The researchers noted that thesefindings were independent of thebody mass index of the individuals.