A new meta-analysis from the National Cancer Center has pointed out that type 1 diabetes raises the risk of several types of cancer.

Professor Myung Seung-kwon (left) and Mukete F. Sona

Professor Myung Seung-kwon from NCC's International Cancer University worked with graduate school student Mukete F. Sona to conduct a meta-analysis of 15 observational studies to uncover the relationship between type 1 diabetes and cancer.

Findings showed that those with type 1 diabetes had increased risk of getting cancer by 30 percent. By cancer type, diabetes increased the chances a person could get gastric, lung, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, and kidney cancer the most.

The study also found that type 1 diabetes could decrease the chance of a person getting breast cancer.

"While previous meta-analyses have shown that type 2 diabetes increases the risk of breast cancer by 20 to 27 percent, this study suggests that type 1 diabetes reduces the risk of breast cancer by about 9 percent," Professor Myung said. "But like people with type 2 diabetes, people with type 1 diabetes should be concerned with the prevention and early screening of cancer."

Limitations of the study included the lack of precise classification of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in each research as well as the overall lack of adjustment for risk factors of breast cancer such as smoking, drinking, obesity, exercise, family history, and socioeconomic status.

The study was published in the Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology earlier this month.

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