NEW research has revealed a link between diabetes and liver cancer, particularly in patients aged 40-54. This study, which included analysing data from over 3 million patients, found that the risk of developing liver cancer was 83% higher in individuals with diabetes.
The team investigated the role of diabetes in the development of cancer using service utilization and antidiabetic dispensing data from 2010 to 2021. The study population consisted of 3,681,774 individuals. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were employed to examine how diabetes status, age, and sex are related to the time to cancer diagnosis.
People with diabetes consistently showed a higher risk for cancer diagnosis across all studied cancer sites. The highest increased risk was observed for pancreatic cancer, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.294 and a 99% confidence interval (CI) of 2.099 to 2.507. Liver cancer, however, also showed a significant increase in risk, with an HR of 1.830 (99% CI: 1.631 to 2.054).
The study found that the difference in cancer rates between diabetic and non-diabetic individuals was driven by younger age groups. For the age group 40–54 years, the cancer rate in diabetics was 5.4% compared to 4.4% in non-diabetics. For the age group 70 to 89 years, the cancer rate in diabetics was 12.7% compared to 12.4% in non-diabetics. Sex was also a factor taken into consideration during the study, with the results showing that the presence of diabetes decreases the risk of liver cancer diagnosis less for females (ratio of HR [RHR] = 0.831; at age 40, HR females: 2.126, HR males: 2.559).
These findings suggest that screening for liver cancer activities should be revised, and the guidelines on diabetes management should include recommendations on cancer prevention, as the highest cancer incidence occurred around the time of diabetes diagnosis. Future studies should investigate the underlying mechanisms driving the increased cancer risk in diabetics and examine sex-specific differences in cancer risk among diabetics more thoroughly. Additional research is needed to resolve the contradictory findings related to prostate cancer.
Victoria Antoniou, EMJ
Reference
Safadi H et al. Associations between diabetes and cancer: a 10-year national population-based retrospective cohort study. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2024;211:111665.
