Diabetes Mellitus as Cancer Risk: A 14-year, Cross-Sectional Analysis

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is widely thought to be a risk factors of cancers, but evidence of the association remains inconclusive, especially in Asian countries where few relevant studies have been conducted. Our study aimed to estimate overall and specific types of cancer risks among diabetes patients in Southern Thailand. Patients diagnosed with diabetes who visited the outpatient clinic of Songklanagarind Hospital during 2004 to 2018 were included. Newly diagnosed cancer patients were identified using the hospital-based cancer registry. Age-standardized incidence ratios (ASRs) and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were used to estimate and compare the cancer risks among diabetes patients and the general population in Southern Thailand. Of 29,314 diabetes patients identified during the study period, 1,113 patients had developed cancer. An increased risk for overall cancer was observed in both genders, with SIRs [95% CI] of 2.99 [2.65, 3.39] in men and 3.51 [3.12, 3.96] in women. Increases in the risk of several site-specific cancers including liver cancer, non-melanoma skin cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer in both sexes; prostate cancer, lymphoid leukemia, and multiple myeloma in men; and endometrial, breast, and thyroid cancer in women were observed. Our study found that diabetes generally increased the risk of both overall and site-specific cancers.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Cancer Registry Unit, Songklanagarind Hospital, and the National Cancer Institute of Thailand for providing the registry data. We also thank Dave Patterson of the International Affairs Office, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University and ‘Editage’ for English proofreading and editing.

Institutional Review Board Statement

This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University (NO: REC.62-344-9-4).

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Division of Digital Innovation and Data Analytics, Faculty of Medicine Prince of Songkla University upon reasonable request. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study. The data are available from Dr. Thammasin Ingviya with the permission of the Division of Digital Innovation and Data Analytics, Faculty of Medicine Prince of Songkla University.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University (registration number REC 62-344-9-4).