Systematic review and meta-analysis of insulin therapy and risk of cancer
Open accessAbstract
Recent epidemiological studies suggest that treatment with insulin may promote cancer growth. The present systematic review and meta-analysis of published observational studies was conducted to assess the risk of cancer during treatment with insulin. A search of online database through January 2011 was performed and examined the reference lists of pertinent articles, limited to observational studies in humans. Pooled relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random-effects model. Fifteen studies (five case-control and ten cohort studies) were included, with 562,043 participants and 14,085 cases of cancer. Insulin treatment was associated with an increased risk of overall cancer [summary RR (95% CI)=1.39 (1.14, 1.70)]. Summary RR (9% CI) for case-control studies was 1.83 (0.99, 3.38), whereas RR for cohort studies was 1.28 (1.03, 1.59). These results were consistent between studies conducted in the USA and in Europe. For studies that included combined type 1 and 2 diabetes, the summary estimate was stronger than studies including only type 2 diabetes mellitus. The association between insulin treatment and cancer was stronger for pancreatic cancer [summary RR (95% CI)=4.78 (3.12, 7.32)] than for colorectal cancer [1.50 (1.08, 2.08)]. Insulin treatment was not associated with breast, prostate, and hepatocelluar cancer, and their effect estimates were not statistically significant. Our findings support an association between insulin use and increased risk of overall, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer.
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No reported effect of metformin on incidence or overall survival for bladder cancer.
“There is no reported effect of metformin on the incidence or overall survival for bladder cancer.1801”
From American Association of Clinical Endocrinology Clinical Practice Guideline: Developing a Diabetes Mellitus Comprehensive Care Plan-2022 Update. (2022) · cites this paper as [1801]
The Study Characteristics section (page not specified) lists the cancer sites analyzed, but not bladder cancer. The Discussion mentions metformin only as a possible explanation for findings about other diabetes treatments; searches for bladder cancer, metformin, and survival found no result on metformin’s effect on bladder-cancer incidence or overall survival. (LLM, conf=0.77)
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- Authors
- Janghorbani, M., Dehghani, M., & Salehi-Marzijarani, M.
- Affiliations
- Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IR)
- Corresponding author
- Janghorbani, Mohsen
- Venue
- Hormones and Cancer
- Published
- 2012-04-24
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 137-146
- ISSN
- 1868-8497 (ISSN-L)
- 1868-8500
- PMC
- PMC10358051
- OpenAlex
- W1974472988
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 1.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Hormones and Cancer (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Isfahan University of Medical Sciences
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolism, Diabetes, and Cancer
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Growth Hormone and Insulin-like Growth Factors
- Keywords
- insulin therapy, cancer risk, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, prostate cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, diabetes mellitus
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Humans, Insulin, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Risk Factors, Cohort Studies, Case-Control Studies, Cell Growth Processes, Young Adult
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