Men with diabetes at greater risk of developing colon cancer

A new study has revealed that men who have diabetes are 24 per cent more likely to develop colon cancer than those without diabetes, and that the women do not face the same risk. Although previous studies have shown a connection between type 2 diabetes and an increased risk of colon cancer, this was the first that found that men seem to be at a higher risk than women.
The findings follow research earlier this year at the Mayo Clinic, when scientists reported that older women with diabetes had more than twice the chance of developing some types of colorectal cancer . A data study in 2005 also found that people with diabetes were about a third more at risk of developing colon cancer than those without diabetes.
In the new study, over 184,000 older adults in the United States were monitored for up to 15 years to assess their risk of developing colon cancer. By 2007, 1,567 of the men were diagnosed with colon cancer, 227 cases of which were in a group of 6,529 men with type 2 diabetes . In total, men with diabetes were 24 per cent were at a higher risk of developing the cancer than those without diabetes, while men who used insulin to control their condition were 36 per cent more likely to develop colon cancer than diabetes-free men were.
Also, of the 4,800 women with diabetes, only 108 developed colon cancer, while for the 77,000 women without diabetes, 1,134 developed colon cancer. After other factors were taken into account, the study showed there to be no association between diabetes and colon cancer risk for women.