Common diseases increase risk of cancer

A number of the most widespread chronic diseases in our society increase the risk of cancer. This is shown by a study of 20 000 Swedes that mapped patients’ illnesses up to ten years before their cancer diagnosis. "We have carried out more in-depth studies on diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol", explains Bo Attner, a doctoral student under Professor Håkan Olsson at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital in Sweden. The studies he and his colleagues have carried out have attracted a lot of attention in the US, where obesity is a major problem. They show that those who develop diabetes are at greater risk of later suffering from cancer of the breast, liver, colon, pancreas and bladder. Those who are obese are more likely to suffer from cancer of the womb, colon or kidney, and, among the over 60s, also breast cancer. The results are based on a population-based register study of the entire population of Skåne County.