RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Cancer and diabetes are major public health problems for the United States and the world. Diabetes remains the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, and nontraumatic lower limb amputation, whereas cancer continues to be a major cause of death, accounting for approximately 1 of 4 deaths in the United States. Recently, a potential link between diabetes and cancer has been suggested in the medical literature. OBJECTIVE: To review the current literature on any potential link between diabetes medications and the risk for cancer. DISCUSSION: Increasing evidence suggests that diabetic patients are at increased risk of developing cancer. The exact mechanism for the increased cancer risk in patients with diabetes is unknown. Because of a potential correlation between diabetes and cancer, studies are emerging that evaluate the cancer risk of medications used to treat diabetes. This article reviews the current data in the literature regarding the association between the various drug classes indicated for the treatment of diabetes and cancer development or prevention. CONCLUSION: Despite many studies showing a correlation between some medications for diabetes and the development of cancer, there is no clear evidence of a direct causation between these drugs and cancer. Therefore, providers and patients should continue to use medications to control diabetes as before, because the correlation between uncontrolled diabetes and cancer is stronger than the correlation between medications for diabetes and cancer.
