Study: Possible Link Seen in Adult-Onset Diabetes and Colorectal Cancer

University of Toronto researchers report that similarity in lifestyle risk factors suggest there may be common mechanisms at work in the development of adult-onset diabetes and colorectal cancer.

The researchers said they conducted tests in rats aimed at determining the extent to which direct and surrogate measures of insulin resistance correlate with development of precursors of colorectal cancer.

Rats were fed low, intermediate, or high saturated fat diets. The reseachers reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention that they subsequently found measurements of insulin resistance strongly correlated with direct measures of insulin sensitivity and with colorectal cancer promotion.

"These correlations do not prove causality," the researchers said, but added that "they suggest possible mechanisms linking diet, insulin resistance with its related parameters, and promotion of colorectal cancer.

Other Sources: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention