Cancer concern for women with type 2 diabetes
Wednesday January 25th 2023
Women with type 2 diabetes to be included as a high risk group for breast cancer screening at a younger age, British researchers say today.
Dr Suping Ling of the University of Leicester, UK, and colleagues examined breast cancer mortality rates in younger women with type 2 diabetes and found they are rising.
In yesterday's *Diabetologia* journal, they report that cancer mortality in people with type 2 diabetes is substantially higher than the general population. They took information from 137,804 adults with type 2 diabetes in the UK's Clinical Practice Research Datalink.
The overall cancer rate was 18% higher, and specifically 9% higher for breast cancer. The team also found that the breast cancer mortality rate rose by 4% per year in younger women with type 2 diabetes from 1998 to 2018.
Possible causes for the raised risk include prolonged exposure to increased blood sugar and insulin levels, insulin resistance and chronic inflammation.
This trend opposes the overall decrease in all-cause mortality for people with type 2 diabetes over the 20 year period, partly thanks to cardiovascular prevention and treatment.
The researchers state: “From this perspective, our results suggest that it may be helpful to extend breast cancer screening to young women with type 2 diabetes.
"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 add: “The prevention of cardiovascular disease has been, and is still considered, a priority in people with diabetes. 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."
Ling, S. et al. Inequalities in cancer mortality trends in people with type 2 diabetes: 20 year population-based study in England. *Diabetologia* 24 January 2023; doi: 10.1007/s00125-022-05854-8
Tags: Cancer | Diabetes | UK News | Women's Health & Gynaecology
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