Type 2 Diabetes Later in Life Could Be Early Sign of Cancer, Study

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Recent research suggests that being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in middle age could herald pancreatic cancer.

The new study is in line with past research that has shown that diabetes can double the risk of this type of extremely deadly cancer.

Researchers at the University of Southern California have found that developing the metabolic disease after the age of 50 can be a telltale sign that you already have pancreatic cancer.

The analysis revealed that 53% of diabetes patients with pancreatic cancer have learned that they have diabetes less than three years before they were diagnosed with cancer.

It is also possible that the cancer can lead to diabetes.

Researchers couldn’t explain the link between the late onset of type 2 diabetes and the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Late-Onset Diabetes Tied to Pancreatic Cancer

According to a CDC report published last year, more than 100 million people in the U.S. live with prediabetes or diabetes. Prediabetes can morph into a full-fledged diagnosis within five years if left untreated.

In 2015, 30.3 million people in the U.S. had type 2 diabetes. In the U.S.A., diabetes is currently the seventh top killer. In 2016, 53,000 Americans were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a disease with very low survival rates if it is spotted too late.

Nearly 50% of pancreatic cancer cases are people aged 75 or older. The disease is very uncommon in younger people. Unfortunately, around 80% of pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed too late.

The latest study shows that middle-aged and older diabetics have a twofold risk of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer later on than young diabetes patients. Also, pancreatic cancer patients are three times more likely to have late-onset diabetes as well than other cancer patients.

The study appeared this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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John Birks

John holds a diploma in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He covers the technology, social media, green business, eco-travel, politics, arts culture.