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Type 2 diabetes increases risk for breast, colon cancer
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People with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of developing breast and colon cancer, and they also have a higher chance of dying from the diseases, researchers reported at the European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam last weekend.
Investigators from Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, reviewed 20 previous studies involving almost 2 million people. They found a 26% greater risk of developing colon cancer and a 30% higher risk of dying from it. They also discovered that patients with type 2 diabetes also had a 23% increased risk of developing breast cancer and a 38% increased risk of dying from it.
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"The results for breast and colon cancer incidence in patients with diabetes are consistent with other meta-analyses," De Bruijn told United Press International.