Insulin therapy contributes to the increased risk of colorectal cancer in diabetes patients: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: 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. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A compressive search was conducted through MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Chinese Biomedical Literature databases (CBM). Pooled relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random-effects model. RESULTS: A total of four studies with one case-controls study and three cohort studies comparing the insulin therapy and colorectal cancer susceptibility were identified. When all four studies were analyzed, the summary RRs were 1.61 (95% CI = 1.18–1.35) in a random-effects model for individuals with insulin therapy, compared with individuals without insulin therapy, which suggests a statistically significant association between insulin use and colorectal cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provides the evidence that insulin therapy may contribute to the risk of colorectal cancer. VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/9339731010859509