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Increased prevalence of prior breast cancer in women with newly diagnosed diabetes

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Objective

There is growing evidence of a link between type 2 diabetes and breast cancer, possibly through insulin resistance and/or hyperinsulinemia. Because insulin levels are at their highest prior to the development of diabetes, breast cancer risk may be even greater during the pre-diabetes period.

Research design and methods

In this cross-sectional study, women aged 55–79 years living in Ontario, Canada, with newly diagnosed diabetes from 1994 to 2002 were identified from a validated, population-based database (N = 82,390). Prior history of breast cancer in this group was recorded from 1964 until their diabetes diagnosis from a linkable cancer registry, and was compared to a similarly aged comparison group without diabetes (N = 411,950).

Results

Prior breast cancers were identified in 3.7% of women with diabetes and in 3.1% women without diabetes (odds ratio, OR 1.22, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.17–1.27, p < 0.0001). The mean time from breast cancer diagnosis to diabetes diagnosis was 7.9 years. The likelihood of a breast cancer history remained significantly higher in women with diabetes after adjustment for age, income and physician visits (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.09–1.18, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

These results suggest that breast cancer risk may be increased in the pre-diabetes phase and may have implications for screening and prevention strategies. Further studies are required to better characterize the processes that link insulin resistance, diabetes and breast cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Nadia Gunraj in data collection. L. Lipscombe is supported by the Canadian Diabetes Association’s Marsha Howarth-Schwarz Postgraduate Fellowship. J. McLaughlin is supported as an Investigator by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. B. Zinman holds the Sam and Judy Pencer Family Chair in Diabetes Research at Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto. P. Goodwin holds the Marvelle Koffler Chair in Breast Research at Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Lorraine L. Lipscombe & Janet E. Hux

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Lorraine L. Lipscombe, Pamela J. Goodwin, Bernard Zinman & Janet E. Hux

  3. Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Pamela J. Goodwin, John R. McLaughlin & Janet E. Hux

  4. Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada

    Lorraine L. Lipscombe & Janet E. Hux

  5. Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada

    Pamela J. Goodwin & Bernard Zinman

  6. Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto, Canada

    Pamela J. Goodwin, Bernard Zinman & John R. McLaughlin

  7. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, 2075 Bayview Avenue, G106, M4N 3M5, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Lorraine L. Lipscombe

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  1. Lorraine L. Lipscombe
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  2. Pamela J. Goodwin
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  3. Bernard Zinman
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  4. John R. McLaughlin
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  5. Janet E. Hux
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Correspondence to Lorraine L. Lipscombe.

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Lipscombe, L.L., Goodwin, P.J., Zinman, B. et al. Increased prevalence of prior breast cancer in women with newly diagnosed diabetes. Breast Cancer Res Treat 98, 303–309 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-006-9166-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-006-9166-3

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