Type II diabetes is at increased risk of cancer

Type II diabetes patients have an increased risk of cancer.

(22.05.2010) According to an international study, diabetes type II patients are at an increased risk of developing different cancers. An increased risk exists especially for pancreatic cancer and liver cancer. Scientists have discovered that the increased risk of disease exists in 24 out of 26 cancers. Statistically, the risk of a diabetic (type 2) is about 4.25 times higher than in people who do not have "diabetes".

Physicians from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), together with scientists from Sweden and the USA, have evaluated data from 125,126 Swedish citizens. According to the Cancer Research Center, the international evaluation is currently the largest study investigating the association between type 2 diabetes and cancer. Study leader Kari Hemminki emphasized that this study allows for the first time to establish links between diabetes and rare cancers.

The patients studied in the past had to go to a clinic because of diabetes-related illnesses. The scientists used the data to compare the incidence of cancer with that of the Swedish population. It was found that the risk of developing liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) is about four times greater than that of the Swedish general population. The risk of developing pancreatic carcinoma is six-fold higher than in generally healthy patients. Further evaluations showed that in kidney cancer, cancers of the thyroid gland, esophagus, nervous system and the small intestine there is an approximately double increased disease risk for diabetes patients.

According to the Cancer Research Center, the international evaluation is currently the largest study investigating the association between type 2 diabetes and cancer. Study leader Kari Hemminki emphasized that this study allows for the first time to establish links between diabetes and rare cancers.

However, diabetes does not increase the risk of disease in all cancers. According to comparative data, diabetes type II patients suffered significantly less from prostate cancer (prostate cancer) than non-diabetics. However, the researchers can only speculate about the exact background of the relationships. "Perhaps a lower level of male sex hormones is shared by diabetics." so Hemminki.

Currently, about 9 million people in Germany suffer from diabetes, and the number of unreported cases is probably far higher, as many people do not know that they have diabetes. Around 90 percent of diabetics suffer from Type 2, which develops over the course of life. In this case, sugar in the blood is poorly absorbed by the cells. (Sb)

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