Risk of developing cancer increased by prediabetes

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new meta-analysis published in the journal Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, the risk of developing cancer is increased by prediabetes. That risk differs depending on the type of cancer. In the study, researchers evaluated 16 studies from Asia, the United States, Europe, and Africa.

The researchers found that prediabetes is linked with a 15% elevated risk of developing cancer overall. They found that the results were similar across age, cancer endpoint, duration of follow-up, and ethnicity. In addition, acknowledging that obesity is also linked to the development of cancer, researchers performed a sensitivity analysis that adjusted for body mass index and found that prediabetes was linked with a 22% increased risk of cancer.

When analyzing specific cancers, researchers found that prediabetes was associated with an increased risk of breast, colorectum, endometrium, liver, pancreas, and stomach cancer, but not linked with bladder, kidney, lung, ovary, or prostate cancer.

Prediabetes refers to a hemoglobin A1C (Hgb A1C) between 5.7% and 6.4%, with diabetes beginning when a patient has a Hgb A1C of 6.5% or higher.