Type 2 diabetes tied to breast cancer risk in older and non-white women

A new study into the link between diabetes and cancer has revealed that the type 2 diabetes significantly increases the risk of breast cancer and death from all causes in both older women and non-Caucasian women.
The research, which involved analysis of data from 1447 women with breast cancer and 1453 controls without the disease, found that the likelihood of developing breast cancer was 35 per cent higher for postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes compared to non-diabetic females.
The risk, however, was much higher among non-white females with type 2 diabetes, with this group some 289 per cent more likely to develop the cancer compared to non-white women without diabetes.
Among women with breast cancer, the researchers found that those with diabetes were 65 per cent more likely than non-diabetics to die from all causes – rising to 149 per cent for women who were also obese.
They added that risk of breast cancer or mortality among type 2 diabetic women was not affected by length of time since diabetes diagnosis or treatment type.
“Our findings suggest that diabetes may increase incidence of breast cancer in older women and non-whites, and mortality due to all causes,” concluded R.J. Cleveland of Department Medicine University of North Carolina, and colleagues.