A new study suggests that the diabetes drug metformin may be linked to a higher risk of pancreatic cancer.
According to Reuters, researchers from the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland examined a database of more than eight million people in the United Kingdom, which included 2,800 people who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 1995 and 2009. For each person who had the cancer, researchers found six people of the same age and gender who did not have the disease as a control group.
Researchers found that one out of every nine people with pancreatic cancer were previously diagnosed with diabetes and were on drugs such as metformin or sulfonylereas. In the control group they found that one out of every 12 people who didn’t have cancer were diagnosed with diabetes.
The study, which was published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, also reported that medical records showed two percent of the people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer had taken metformin long-term prior to their diagnosis compared to 1.6 percent of the cancer-free group.
Experts concluded that there needs to be more research to determine what cancer risks might be caused by drugs versus lack of exercise and poor diet in diabetic people.
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