Diabetes patients face greater risk of colon cancer

Recent research indicates that older women with diabetes could face a greater risk of specific types of colorectal cancer . The study, led by physicians at the Mayo Clinic, based their conclusion on the Iowa Women’s Health Study (IWHS) involving over 37,000 participants.
Diabetes is now officially identified as a colon cancer risk, although the exact way in which this happens is not yet understood. Of the total participants, some 2,361 developed diabetes whilst just 1,200 developed colorectal cancer .
Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Paul Limburg reportedly commented: “Diabetes was more strongly associated with the MSI-high, CIMP-positive and BRAF-mutation cancer subtypes in this group of older women.” The findings are being presented at Digestive Disease Week 2010.