More breast cancer diagnosed in women with diabetes
Women with recently diagnosed diabetes may be more likely to also get a breast cancer diagnosis than those without diabetes, suggests a new study from Canada.
It’s not the first time diabetes has been linked to new cases of breast or other cancers. But the findings also hint that at least part of the reason why doctors find more breast cancer in diabetics is because they’re looking harder — and not necessarily because diabetes itself raises a woman’s cancer risk.
“The relationship that we see (between diabetes and cancer), we wondered if it was something about the fact that people with diabetes go to the doctor’s office more often,” said Jeffrey Johnson, from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, who worked on the study.
“When a new diagnosis of diabetes is made, people undergo a lot of tests and general health exams.” That may include breast cancer screening with mammograms, he added.
Previous studies found that people with diabetes have a higher risk of colorectal, liver and pancreatic cancers, along with breast cancer.
Researchers then suggested that certain behaviors might increase the risk of both types of diseases, including smoking, being sedentary and not eating well, and that those would explain the link.
It’s also possible that changes in insulin and blood sugar levels that come with diabetes make it easier for breast tumors to grow, Johnson said…