Population-based estimation of mortality and occurrence of cancer in patients with and without diabetes in Pune

Diabetes has been implicated as an altered risk for development of various cancer types. Aim of the present study was to compare the mortality from malignancies in diabetic and non-diabetic population and to understand the interrelationship between diabetes and cancer. Retrospective observational analysis of data obtained from death certificate providing information about the cause of death, age, sex and identity of decedents from Pune city, excluding the suburbs, was undertaken. Death certificates from January 2006 to December 2006 were analysed. Thirty-two different cancer types were detected in a deceased population of 14,838 with 8% and 6.8% suffering from diabetes and cancer respectively. Out of the total population, 7% of diabetics and 6.8% of the non-diabetics had cancer. Liver (OR = 2.05, 95% CI (1.04–4.04), P = 0.033) and pancreatic (OR = 3.78, 95% CI (1.84–7.73), P = 0.0001) cancer were the major cancer types in diabetic population. Average survival age of breast cancer patients with diabetes was 70.3 years and it was 57.9 years for non-diabetics. We observed that in a given population, there is an increase in the occurrence of certain cancer types under diabetic condition. The present study hints that the interplay between diabetes and cancer in Indian population may be complex and provides impetus for a detailed cohort study.