Type 2 Diabetes Linked to Increased Risk for Colorectal Cancer

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC), with increased associations for those without colonoscopy screening and with smoking history, according to a study published online Nov. 14 in JAMA Network Open.

Thomas Lawler, Ph.D., from the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center in Madison, and colleagues conducted a cohort study using data from the prospective Southern Community Cohort Study to examine whether diabetes is associated with CRC risk among understudied populations. Data were included for 54,597 participants (66 percent African American; 53 percent with income <$15,000 per year).

The researchers found that 289 of 25,992 participants with diabetes and 197 of 28,605 without diabetes developed CRC. Diabetes was associated with an elevated risk for CRC (hazard ratio, 1.47). Among participants without colonoscopy screening and those with smoking history, greater associations were seen (hazard ratios, 2.07 and 1.62, respectively), possibly due to differences in cancer screening. Participants with recent diabetes diagnoses also had greater associations (diabetes duration less than five versus five to 10 years: hazard ratio, 2.55), possibly due to recent cancer screening.

"Increased interactions with the health care system following a diabetes diagnosis, including increased referrals to CRC screening, may be important for mitigating the harm of diabetes-related metabolic dysfunction, particularly in early diabetes, on CRC risk," the authors write.

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