The Established Link between Diabetes and Cancer in Women

Posted by Cancer Center Las Colinas on March 23rd, 2019

Approximately 1.5 million people are diagnosed with diabetes in the U.S. every year. In 2015, 9.4 percent of Americans (30.3 million) had diabetes. About 1.25 million adults and children had type 1 diabetes.

Many Americans lose their lives because of diabetes over breast cancer and AIDs combined, and almost 50 percent of American adults have prediabetes or diabetes. Women face a higher risk of developing diabetes related complications including heart attack, kidney disease, depression, and blindness.

Research shows that diabetics are at a higher risk of different types of cancer, and that cancer and diabetes usually coexist in one person.

A recent review across the world involving about 20 million persons has revealed that having diabetes increases the risk of cancer, and this risk is much higher in women. Dr. Toshiaki Ohkuma, a researcher at The George Institute for Global Health notes that there’s an established link between diabetes and cancer risk.

Ohkuma and other researchers have also proved for the first time that diabetic women have higher chances of developing any type of cancer. These women are also more likely to develop leukemia, kidney, stomach and oral cancers.

According to the review:

•    Women with diabetes are 27% more likely to be cancerous than those with no diabetes. In men, the risk was 19% or higher.

•    Diabetes formed the greatest risk factor for most cancers that can affect different parts of the body in both women and men.

•    Overall, women having diabetes had a 6% likelihood of developing any form of cancer compared to men with diabetes.

•    Women with cancer had significantly higher risk for developing oral cancer, stomach cancer, cancer of the kidney and leukemia, compared to men.

•    However, the risk of diabetic women developing liver cancer was 12% lower compared to diabetic men. The reason is high blood glucose level may lead to DNA damage and thus have cancer-causing effects.

According to the researchers, women have a higher risk of cancer because it takes them two years longer to be in a pre-diabetic state of impaired glucose tolerance, than men.

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