Type 2 diabetics more likely to die from cancer finds new UK study
In a new study, researchers from the United Kingdom found that cancer mortality among people suffering from type 2 diabetes is substantially higher than among the general population.
The findings of the study, published in the journal Diabetologia, found that mortality in people with type 2 was 18% for all cancers combined, 9% for breast cancer and 2.4 times for colorectal cancer.
The study further found that cancer mortality in people with diabetes was almost double that in the general population for diabetes-related cancers, including liver and pancreatic cancers, irrespective of sex.
The 20-year study, tracking data from1998-2018, led by Dr Suping Ling of the University of Leicester and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine also showed that the cases of breast cancer deaths are increasing in the country by 4.1% each year among younger women with Type 2 diabetes.
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Pointing out that the prevention of cardiovascular disease has been, and is still considered, a priority in people with diabetes, the authors of the study noted in their paper, “Our results challenge this view by showing that cancer may have overtaken cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of death in people with type 2 diabetes.”
“Cancer prevention strategies, therefore, deserve at least a similar level of attention as cardiovascular disease prevention, particularly in older people and for some cancers such as liver, colorectal and pancreatic cancer,” they added.
“From this perspective, our results suggest that it may be helpful to extend breast cancer screening to young women with type 2 diabetes,” the authors observe.
“However, given the high cost and potentially longer exposure to screening procedures, cost-effectiveness analyses are required to define the appropriate time window and identify subgroups who may benefit more,” they suggested.
