does a cancer diagnosis raise the risk of diabetes?

certain specific kinds of cancer appear to increase the diabetes risk, according to a new study.

by dave yasvinski

published jun 06, 2022

3 minute read

join the conversation

3 minute read

join the conversation

does a cancer diagnosis raise the risk of diabetes?

the study also showed that cancer survivors who developed diabetes generally died sooner than those that did not. getty

a new study has found that cancer patients are more likely to develop diabetes, and that those who are subsequently diagnosed with the metabolic disease do not live as long as other cancer survivors. the study, which was published in the journal diabetes care, found that certain types of cancer were more likely to increase the risk of diabetes than others. as this work is the first of its kind to establish such an association, the team cautioned that further study is required to confirm its findings.

“our study demonstrates that there is an elevated risk of developing diabetes if a person is affected by lung, pancreatic, breast, brain, urinary tract or uterine cancers,”said lykke sylow, an associate professor in the department of nutrition, exercise and sports at the university of copenhagen.

although the team of researchers, who relied on a dataset containing 112 million blood samples from 1.3 million danes — more than 50,000 of whom developed cancer — could not explain the association, they presented a few possibilities. “various cancer therapies may contribute to an increased risk,” sylow said.

“the cancer itself can affect the rest of the body. we know that cancer cells are able to secrete substances that can affect organs and possibly contribute to an increased incidence of diabetes. this has been suggested in animal studies.”

the study also showed that cancer survivors who developed diabetes generally died sooner than those that did not, experiencing an excess mortality of 21 per cent. the research, which combined all cancers and did not analyze risk by specific cancer, suggests a simple measure that may improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients.

“it might be relevant to consider diabetes screenings in relation to those cancers where we found an elevated risk of the disease,” said christoffer johansen, a professor at the national centre for cancer survivorship and general late effects (castle) at rigshospitalet. “that is to say, for patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, brain cancer, uterine cancer and urinary tract cancers. we have outstanding opportunities to treat diabetes and early intervention could have an impact on certain cancer patients.”

cancer is the leading cause of death among canadians, according to the most recent data, with around 20 per cent of people expected to develop a form of the disease in their lifetime and roughly 25 per cent expected to succumb to it. it is estimated that just under 230,000 canadians were diagnosed with cancer in 2021, with roughly 85,000 dying from the disease. lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancers were expected to be the most commonly diagnosed cancers in 2021, accounting for 46 per cent of all diagnoses. the five-year net survival rate for all cancers in canada combined is 64 per cent.

“it could be interesting to investigate whether screening helps cancer patients – both in terms of their chances of survival as well as their quality of life,” sylow said. “as a preventive initiative, it might also be possible to recommend different types of exercise for people with cancer, ones that we know work effectively to prevent and treat diabetes. but my suggestions are to be taken in a long-term perspective and need to be tested.”

dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca

don’t miss a thing: sign-up for healthing’s newsletter

thank you for your support. if you liked this story, please send it to a friend. every share counts.