The association between a prior diagnosis of
diabetes mellitus and
cancer was examined in a large multisite case-control study based on interviews of 8220 white males and 6690 white females aged 30-89 who were admitted to Roswell Park Memorial Institute between 1957 and 1965 for the diagnosis and treatment of
cancer. A prior history of
diabetes mellitus as diagnosed by a physician was examined as a risk factor for
cancer by conducting sex- and site-specific comparisons with a common control group of 2363 white males and 2475 white females who were admitted to the same hospital during the same years, but were found not to have
cancer. The findings are consistent with previous studies which have shown diabetes to be a risk factor for
cancer of the uterine corpus. A positive association was also noted between diabetes and
cancer of the vulva and vagina. The evidence for excess
estrogen levels as the underlying mechanism for increased risk of uterine and vulvo-
vaginal cancer is reviewed. No consistent association between diabetes and
pancreatic cancer was observed in this study, except when those cases in which diabetes was diagnosed within a year before the diagnosis of
pancreatic cancer were included. This suggests that diabetes may be an early presenting sign of
pancreatic cancer rather than a risk factor. A positive association between prior diagnosis of diabetes was noted for
kidney cancer and nonmelanoma
skin cancer in females only. No association between type of treatment (i.e.
insulin, oral agents) and
cancer risk was noted.