Diabetes Linked To Colon Cancer

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) held their annual conference in Philadelphia last week. A number of presentations addressed the relationship between diabetes and cancer.

One by Flood and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota found that diabetes, even pre-diabetes, appeared to be a risk factor for colon cancer.

They reviewed data from over 45,000 U.S. women who took part in a breast cancer screening program, and who were followed for an average of 8.5 years (between 1978 and 1998).

They found that, compared to women without diabetes or pre-diabetes:

• Women with diabetes had a 50% greater chance of developing colorectal cancer.
  
• Women with prediabetes had a 36% greater chance of developing colorectal cancer.

The authors speculated that higher insulin levels were to blame. Even before a diagnosis of diabetes, cells often become increasingly resistant to insulin, sparking the pancreas to secrete even more. They state:

"Insulin, which is chronically elevated in the pre-diabetic condition and in diabetes before pancreatic exhaustion, stimulates growth of both normal colonic and carcinoma cells."

If you have diabetes, or if you are overweight, over 50, and have a family history of the diabetes, colon cancer screenings should be a part of your healthcare schedule.
________ You can find this abstract by visiting the AACR abstract page, selecting "Poster Session B", and paging down to Abstract B93: Diabetes and hyper-insulinemia as predictors of colorectal cancer risk in a prospective cohort of women.