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Diabetes Increases the Risk of this Deadly Disease

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Diabetes Increases the Risk of this Deadly Disease

At the recent European Cancer Congress 2017, the findings of a group of scientists instilled quite some fear in people with diabetes. Why? That’s because the team made the following shocking statement: diabetes could be a “sign of early, hidden pancreatic cancer.”

Diabetes strikes again.

The Study

The study used a pool of subjects with Type 2 diabetes from Lombardi (Italy) and Belgium. The dreadful results showed that half of the patients who were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within one year were a victim of pancreatic cancer.

Incretins are hormones that stimulate the release of insulin by the pancreas.

When compared to patients who were managing their diabetes with oral medication, the risk of pancreatic cancer for patients who were prescribed incretins after the 3-month diagnosis of diabetes spiked up by 3.5 times, although the risk decreased when incretin therapy began at a later date. This observation was matched with a quicker jump to incretins in patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Patients whose condition requires them to use insulin have more luck of getting acquainted with this deadly disease, increasing their chance by seven times!

Did you know?

The difficulty to catch pancreatic cancer at its early stage combined with the limited effective treatments currently available puts a strain on the life expectancy after diagnosis, rarely going beyond 10 years.

Previously, these findings led researchers to believe that incretins cause pancreatic cancer because of their effect on the pancreas, but the table has turned. In light of recent studies, most researchers agree that pancreatic cancer can be a risk factor for diabetes. According to Koechlin Autier, a member of the International Prevention Research Institute of Lyon, people with Type 2 diabetes who are prescribed incretins could be struck with undiagnosed pancreatic cancer. At first glance, it’s easy to assume that incretins are the culprits to blame for the spurt of cancer, but a closer look indicates that pancreatic cancer is, in fact, the big bad wolf that is exacerbating the progression of diabetes.

“Onset of diabetes or rapidly deteriorating diabetes could be the first sign of hidden pancreatic cancer, and steps should be taken to investigate it,” concludes one of the author.

 




The pancreas is the organ responsible for the release of insulin and glucagon, both key hormones of diabetes; hence, there may be an existing link between pancreatic cancer and diabetes that science has yet to fully elucidate.

What Others Say

According to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, people with diabetes are at greater risk for pancreatic cancer. In contrast, it is still a mystery whether diabetes increases the risk of pancreatic cancer or if the cancer is the instigator of the onset of diabetes in people who have diabetes for less than five years. Results from other studies also showed that sudden change in glycemia and diabetes that occur after the age of 50 could be a sign of pancreatic cancer. However, the American Cancer Society remains conservative, and state that “pancreatic cancer [rarely] causes diabetes.”

References

American Cancer Society. URL Link. Accessed February 15, 2017.

European Cancer Association. URL Link. Accessed February 15, 2017.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. URL Link. Accessed February 15, 2017.

Pancreatic Cancer UK. URL Link. Accessed February 15, 2017.