Study Highlights Possible Cancer Risks in Diabetic Patients, Especially Women

Diabetes and its associated risks to a person’s health don’t really need an introduction, now, does it? A new study shows the possible connection between the risks associated with diabetes and cancer, especially in women. The advanced stages of diabetes might be a cause of cancer in a number of patients.

The review was conducted among 20 million people, and the results concluded that the presence of diabetes at uncontrolled levels in an individual might expose them to higher risks of cancer, especially in women in comparison to men.

The study was conducted by researchers from the George Institute for Global Health which was later published on Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]).

Not just that, researchers further pinpointed that the risks of cancer in women were higher in terms of leukemia and the various types of cancers that are related to the stomach. The chances of liver cancer are comparatively lower in women than in men. The researchers are further instigating new research concerning the same topic but with a different approach. Further study needs to be specified among the genders to find the risks relating to diabetes-caused cancer.

The lead researcher in the team, Dr Toshiaki Ohkuma, who is also with the George Institute for Global Health, stated that they have established a firm connection between diabetes and the possible risks of cancers. He further stated the statistics suggest that the number of people who have diabetes has doubled over the last 30 years, and they must find a number of possible factors relating to this disease.

The follow-up of these concluding results is currently in progress, where the researchers are working to establish a possible connection and underlying reason behind what the primary cause is for the formation of cancer – especially the ones relating to kidney cancers, stomach cancers and leukemia.

They enlisted some of the key findings from the study which have been significant in answering the overlaying reasons; the only thing left to do now is to find a probable connection between the two and the reason that is causing it in the first place.

Some of these findings and conclusions include:

• The rate of risk of developing cancer in women with diabetes in comparison to the ones without was stated at 27%. The same for men was at 19%.
• The researchers concluded that the recurrence of diabetes did impose a crucial impact on the development of cancer in various regions of the body.
• Further, it was calculated that the rate of risk of cancer in women with diabetes is 6% higher in comparison to people who don’t have diabetes.
• The probability of the cancers that were expected to influence one’s health heavily include kidney cancer (11%), oral cancer (13%), stomach cancer (14%), and leukemia (15%), and these impose more effects on women in comparison to men.
• Another conclusion was that the possibility of liver cancer was around 12% lower in women in comparison to men who are exposed to higher risks of this disease.

This study is expected to raise awareness in people to either improve their lifestyle or opt for better prevention methods to keep diabetes signs and symptoms at bay. While the researchers haven’t yet developed a common ground for the actual reason behind the problem, it is believed that it could be alterations in the DNA due to heightened levels of blood glucose that could be the primary causative agent behind the development of cancer in individuals.

There is going to be gender-specific research to find a better approach to the argument behind the actual cause of cancer, which is why the researchers behind the study are still skeptical about commenting firmly on any of the possible reasons behind the same.

• Sep 2018
  Written by Somapika D
• Aug 2024
  Edited by Lakshmi Gayatri