Recent research suggests that type 2 diabetes may increase the risk for some cancers typically related to obesity.
- As of 2021, researchers estimated
that about 10.5% of the global adult population has diabetes, with 90% of
that number having type 2 diabetes.
- Both obesity and type 2
diabetes are known risk factors for certain cancers.
- A new study has linked
new-onset type 2 diabetes to an increased risk for developing certain
obesity-related cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, and liver
cancers.
- This increased risk was
greater in men than women, regardless of their body mass index (BMI).
As of 2021, researchers
estimated that about 10.5%
of the world’s adult population has diabetes, with 90%
of cases being type
2 diabetes.
Obesity is a
known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and both of these
conditions can increase a person’s chances of developing certain forms of cancer.
Now a new study
presented at the European
Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) reports that new-onset type 2 diabetes
may increase a person’s risk for developing certain obesity-related cancers,
including colorectal, pancreatic,
and liver
cancer.
The study has not yet
undergone peer review or appeared in print.
What is the
link between type 2 diabetes and obesity-related cancers?
For this study,
researchers analyzed data from participants within the U.K. Biobank. More than
23,000 study participants with new-onset type 2 diabetes were matched to over
71,000 other participants without the condition based on their body mass index (BMI),
age, and gender, with an average follow-up of 5 years.
Scientists also searched
for incidents of obesity-related cancers, including:
- Bowel (Colorectal) Cancer
- Endometrial Cancer
- Esophageal Cancer
- Gallbladder
Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Liver Cancer
- Meningioma (Tumor
In The Central Nervous System)
- Multiple
Myeloma (Blood Cancer)
- Ovarian Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Postmenopausal
Breast Cancer
- Stomach
Cancer
- Thyroid
Cancer
“Research has shown that cancer-related mortality is
increasing in people with type 2 diabetes and we want to help identify whether
type 2 diabetes is causing cancer, or are the increased cancers in people
living with type 2 diabetes due to the coexistence of obesity,” Owen Tipping,
BSc, an MBPhD researcher at the University of Manchester and co-lead author of
this study told Medical News Today.
“This can help with the
creation of new potential cancer preventative measures and guide whether people
with diabetes should undergo cancer screening,” Tipping explained.
“We decided to look at
type 2 diabetes and obesity-related cancers because obesity has strong evidence
for a causal association with at least 13 cancer types, but this is not so
clear for type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are associated with
similar cancers, and these conditions also often co-exist, making it difficult
to decipher whether type 2 diabetes causes cancer, or whether it’s due to
coexiting obesity.”– Owen Tipping, BSc
New-onset
type 2 diabetes increases cancer risk in men by 48%, in women by 24%
At the study’s
conclusion, Tipping and his team found that new-onset type 2 diabetes was
correlated to a 48% increased risk of developing an obesity-related cancer in
men, and a 24% heightened chance in women.
“The significance of
this is that type 2 diabetes may increase risk of cancer independent of
obesity, rather than it being solely due to obesity — i.e in the scenario where
a person living with diabetes has a healthy BMI value,” Tipping explained.
Additionally, scientists
found a link between new-onset type 2 diabetes and an increased risk for three
of the researched obesity-related cancers.
Colorectal cancer risk increased by 27% for men and
34% for women, liver cancer chances almost quadrupled for men and increased five-fold
for women. And pancreatic cancer risk almost doubled for women and increased by
74% for men.
“The significance of
[these findings] is that whilst obesity is causally associated with these
cancers, there is evidence from this study that type 2 diabetes is also
associated — might be causal here, but more evidence is needed to confirm
this,” Tipping said. “Cancer screening for people living with type 2 diabetes
might be beneficial to detect these cancers early.”
“We plan to replicate
this study in cohorts of different ancestry, to verify whether these findings
are consistent across different populations,” he added.
Surprising
findings that need further study
MNT had the opportunity to speak with Anton Bilchik, MD, PhD, surgical oncologist, chief of
medicine and Director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at
Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, about this study.
“I found the study quite surprising since we know
that there is a relationship between non-insulin dependent diabetes, obesity,
and several cancers,” Bilchik commented. “And the fact that this study
demonstrated a relationship between newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes, obesity,
and some cancers and not others was quite surprising to me.
“The study suggests and
supports that there are other mechanisms involved in the development of certain
cancers, such as hyperinsulinemia,
inflammation, the microbiome, and
that there are several possible causes other than those related to obesity,” he
continued.
“I think that there need
to be more prospective studies looking at patients that are obese that have
type 2 diabetes versus those that don’t and monitoring them prospectively,
measuring inflammatory markers, measuring biomarkers, looking at the microbiome to better understand
the causes of some of these so-called obesity-related cancers,” said Bilchik.
Bigger
message is making lifestyle modifications
MNT also spoke with Jack
Jacoub, MD, a board-certified medical oncologist and medical director of
MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Orange Coast and Saddleback Medical Centers in
Orange County, CA, about this research.
Jacoub commented that
for him, it was still unclear how strong the link is between type 2 diabetes
and the cancers discussed in the study.
“The obesity-related
cancers and the lifestyle modifications that individuals can make to reduce
that is probably the bigger message,” Jacoub explained. “It’s interesting, but
I wouldn’t go out and tell every type 2 diabetic they’re at increased risk for
X number of cancers and to worry about that.”
“I would just tell them to try to focus on improving
their hemoglobin A1C and getting their sugar
under control and their weight under control,” he advised.
“There’s been several
data sets about trying to treat the insulin pathway or use the insulin pathway
as somehow a benefit to patients with cancer,” Jacoub continued. “There’s a
case of giving an anti-diabetic drug, metformin,
in the case of breast cancer — it’s a very large trial going on — and
others to see if there’s any possible way to impact it.”
“But it still always
comes down to core principles for patients because there’s only so much in your
control,” Jacoub added.
“Type 2 diabetes,
unlike insulin-dependent
[type 1] diabetes, is one mediated by weight, diet, lack of activity, etc.
And if those are things that you can improve, there’s downstream benefits, not
only reducing these cancers, but others as well [and] cardiovascular disease,”
he pointed out.
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