Type 1 Diabetes Linked to Pancreatic Cancer Risk

To assess the risk of pancreatic cancer in people with type 1 and young-onset diabetes, Dr. Richard J. Stevens and colleagues from the University of Oxford, UK, reviewed findings from nine population-based studies.

The likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer was twice as high in subjects with type 1 or young-onset diabetes as in people without diabetes, the team reports in the British Journal of Cancer.

This increased risk is similar in magnitude to that seen with type 2 diabetes.

Stevens said in an interview that, “There are many theories about the link between diabetes and pancreatic cancer, and "our results help narrow these."

For example, he said, "they rule out a cancer-inducing role of the insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreas, because in type 1 diabetes these cells have largely or entirely been destroyed."

Stevens stressed that "people with type 1 diabetes should not be overly concerned about pancreatic cancer." As he explained, "Pancreatic cancer is an extremely rare disease, and twice a tiny risk is still a tiny risk."

People with diabetes "should remain focused on the common complications of diabetes such as heart disease, eye disease and kidney disease, and the many measures -- including diet, exercise, and medication -- that can be taken to avoid them," Stevens concluded.

Source: Diabetes In Control: British Journal of Cancer, February 2007