A recent study conducted in the United Kingdom indicates that Diabetes is not the cause of the growing number of Obesity and alcohol-related Cancers. Researchers published their findings in the May issue of the British Journal of Cancer.

Multiple theories exist regarding the causes and risks associated with developing Cancer. Possible causes include nutrition, certain medical conditions, lifestyle, environmental exposures, weight, physical activity, radiation exposure, medications and genetics. These topics continue to be the focus of intense research as more is learned about the development of Cancer.

While a link has been established between type 2 diabetes and an elevated risk for several types of Cancers, the effect of type 1 diabetes remains uncertain.

This recent study evaluated 28,900 patients in the UK who were insulin-dependent diabetics and compared their cancer incidence and death rate with national averages. In order to analyze diabetes by type, researchers examined 28,834 patients diagnosed with diabetes before the age of thirty who most likely had type 1 diabetes. The remaining 5066 patients had been diagnosed between the ages of thirty and forty-nine and were mainly type 2 diabetics.

Results found that the relative risks of cancer were nearly the same among both groups. However, the risk for Ovarian cancer was significantly higher in the patients diagnosed with diabetes before age thirty-the greatest risk being among those diagnosed between ages ten to nineteen. The risk of other sites of cancer were not substantially raised among the patients with type 1 diabetes. Researchers concluded that other factors besides diabetes were likely contributors to the excess number of Obesity and alcohol-related cancers among type 2 diabetics.