Diabetes Linked to Cancer

According to a joint statement released today by the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society, those with diabetes may have an increased risk of developing cancer. CNN's medical producer Leslie Wade reports:

"The evidence is very strong, about a twofold higher risk of cancer among those with diabetes: liver cancer, pancreatic cancer and endometrial cancer. And to a lesser extent, diabetes looks to be a risk factor for colorectal cancer, breast cancer and bladder cancer," says Susan Gapstur, vice president of the Epidemiology Research Program at the American Cancer Society. Some connections between the diseases are easier to decipher than others, researchers say. They looked at shared risk factors, biologic links, and the effects of drug treatment.

An approximate 7.8 percent of the population have diabetes, according to statistics from the National Diabetes Fact Sheet. With diabetes now being linked to an increased risk of cancer, scientists are looking at diabetes treatments to possibly find a way to cure cancer. This also raises questions as to whether diabetes treatments somehow cause cancer or if the root causes of diabetes also causes cancer.

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