Diabetes can be a sign of pancreatic cancer

American researchers have found that patients with type 2 diabetes are 2.3 times increased likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer. Experts have analyzed data about 50 000 people hospitalized between 1993 and 2013, The Deccan Chronicle reports.

During the observation period, type 2 diabetes expressed itself in 32.3% of patients. Pancreatic cancer developed in 128 patients with diabetes and 280 patients without diabetes. Among diabetics, cancer occurred in 52.3% of cases within 36 months after diabetes detection. If patients with newly developed diabetes were operated to remove cancer of the pancreas, the symptoms of diabetes disappeared in half of the cases.

Pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat. The average survival rate for five years after tumor detection is only 8%. The earlier the disease is detected, the better the prognosis will be. The scientists note that physicians should carefully examine patients with diabetes, because they are in the group at increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Source: The Deccan Chronicle reports.