Can diabetes cause cancer?
The link between insulin and cancer is still unclear. In this video, endocrinologist Jack Merendino, MD, discusses the shared risk factors between diabetes and many cancers.
Transcript
A substantial concern to us is the possibility that insulin itself might contribute to the development of cancer. [MUSIC PLAYING]
It turns out, in fact, that cancer is more common in people who have diabetes. And there's a little bit of uncertainty
about whether that's just two independent diseases coexisting, or whether diabetes can cause cancer.
For one thing, many of the risk factors that lead to diabetes lead to obesity. And obesity is a pretty well understood risk
for certain kinds of cancers. The kinds of cancers you see in diabetes are an increase in breast cancer, an increase
in pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, endometrial cancer.
Now breast cancer and endometrial cancer are, of course, cancers that are increased in frequency if there are high estrogen levels in the body.
And it turns out that if you have more body fat, you tend to have higher estrogen levels. A substantial concern to us is the possibility
that insulin itself might contribute to the development of cancer, which is always something that I'm a little reluctant to say because people tend
to have negative feelings about insulin therapy anyway, and I don't want to add to their anxieties. But it is true that insulin is a growth factor for many tissues.
Many body tissues have receptors on their surface that make them chemically reactive to insulin. And there is some evidence that high insulin levels
will promote the development of cancers or the growth of cancers. But even here, I think there's a bit of optimism
because if you can change your lifestyle and diet, improve your insulin sensitivity, you will drop your insulin levels.
And that might lead to a reduced risk of cancer. [AUDIO LOGO]
diabetes
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