Published in:
01-09-2009 | Editorial
Does diabetes therapy influence the risk of cancer?
Authors:
U. Smith, E. A. M. Gale
Published in:
Diabetologia
|
Issue 9/2009
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Excerpt
Type 2 diabetes is associated with three of the five leading causes of cancer mortality in the USA—carcinoma of the colon, pancreas and breast (postmenopausal) [
1]. The excess risk for each cancer is ~30% (colon), ~50% (pancreas) and ~20% (breast) [
2‐
4]. Type 1 diabetes carries an excess cancer risk of ~20%, but involves a different range of tumours [
5]. The major cancers linked with type 2 diabetes are also associated with obesity or insulin resistance, suggesting that factors other than glucose play an important role [
6]. These observations, although well-attested, have attracted relatively little interest within the world of diabetes. This is partly due to the dominant role of cardiovascular disease, which largely accounts for the twofold increase in mortality associated with type 2 diabetes [
7], and partly, perhaps, because cancer has seemed unavoidable. …
