Type 2 diabetes is associated with cancer of the lining of the uterus (endometrial cancer), regardless of the presence of most other risk factors. To investigate this association, researchers in America looked at whether the risk of endometrial cancer among type 2 diabetic women differs with respect to other risk factors for endometrial cancer. A total of 1303 women with endometrial cancer and 1779 without it (used as controls) were included in the three population-based studies conducted in western Washington State during 1985–1999. It was found that women with type 2 diabetes had a 70 per cent greater likelihood of developing endometrial cancer. Diabetes was associated with endometrial cancer among women who were lean, overweight and moderately obese, but not in cases with extreme obesity. Women with diabetes and a history of hypertension (high blood pressure) were also at increased risk for endometrial cancer. The findings indicate that type 2 diabetes is associated with endometrial cancer irrespective of the presence of other risk factors, except possibly hypertension and extreme obesity.
American Journal of Epidemiology,
March 2008