diabetes (Photo : Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)
Women with diabetes may be at a higher risk of being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, according to a new Canadian study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, WebMD reported. .
Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe, a scientist at ICES and Women's College Hospital in Toronto, said that their findings indicate that women who suffer from diabetes may be predisposed to more advanced-stage breast cancer. Advanced-stage breast cancer may be a contributor to their increased cancer mortality.
Lipscombe further said that breast cancer screening practices may need to be modified for women suffering from diabetes in order to decrease their chances of being diagnosed with advanced cancer.
Scientists examined data from more than 38,000 women aged between 20 and 105 years. These women were identified with invasive breast cancer between the year 2007 and 2012. About 16 percent of the women suffered diabetes.
The study showed that women with diabetes were 14 percent more likely to present with stage II breast cancer, 21 percent more likely to have stage III breast cancer, and 16 percent more likely to present with stage IV breast cancer, compared to present with stage I breast cancer.
Scientists also found that women with diabetes and breast cancer were more likely to present with cancer and large tumor than women without diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society, people suffering from Type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of developing cancers of the bladder, colon, pancreas and liver, The New York Times has learned.
Furthermore, according to a report released by the National Cancer Institute, people with diabetes have higher rates of cancer and an increased risk of dying from cancer.
