People with diabetes are more likely to develop certain cancers than those without the condition, and a new analysis suggests that the increased risk is greater for women than for men.
Diabetes and obesity, one of the main causes of the most common form of the disease, are both independent risk factors for a variety of cancers. Some previous research suggests that this may be due at least in part to biological changes caused by these conditions such as high blood sugar levels and chronic inflammation as well as increased production of estrogen in women and decreased testosterone in men.To see if men and women with diabetes might have different risks of developing cancer, researchers examined data from 47 studies with a total of more than 19.2 million participants.Compared to people without diabetes, women with diabetes were 27 percent more likely to develop cancer and men were 19 percent more likely to develop cancer, the study found.While the smaller studies included in this analysis were not controlled experiments designed to prove whether or how diabetes might cause cancer, high blood sugar levels that can accompany diabetes can lead to DNA damage that may cause cancer, said lead study author Toshiaki Ohkuma of the George Institute for Global Health in New South Wales, Australia.
