SynthesisCurrent drug safety2013
Use of insulin and insulin analogs and risk of cancer - systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.
Synthesis in Current drug safety, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 117 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk factors for gastric cancer: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Diabetes medications and cancer risk associations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence over the past 10 years.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Thiazolidinediones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides, sulfonylureas, and hepatocellular carcinoma risk: A meta-analysis.Metabolism: clinical and experimental · 2021Pooled it
- Effect of metabolic genetic variants on long-term disease comorbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Pioglitazone and bladder cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Cancer medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Treatment with insulin (analogues) and breast cancer risk in diabetics; a systematic review and meta-analysis of in vitro, animal and human evidence.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2015Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials comparing efficacy and safety outcomes of insulin glargine with NPH insulin, premixed insulin preparations or with insulin detemir in type 2 diabetes mellitus.Acta diabetologica · 2015Pooled it
- Pharmacologic Therapy of Diabetes and Overall Cancer Risk and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of 265 Studies.Scientific reports · 2015 · on this mapPooled it
- Metformin Is Associated With a Reduced Risk of Gastric Cancer, but Not Dysplasia, in Patients With Diabetes.The Korean journal of helicobacter and upper gastrointestinal research · 2026Article
- Impact of diabetes mellitus in cancer.The Indian journal of medical research · 2026Review
- Pharmacological mechanisms and clinical impacts of antidiabetic drugs on colorectal cancer risk: a systematic review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- The therapeutic value of antidiabetic drugs in lung cancer treatment: from clinical evidence to possible mechanisms.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Current evidence and research gaps in menopause management in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus: a narrative review.Endocrine connections · 2025Review
- Treatment intensity-dependent association between the number of oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin use and lung cancer risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.Translational lung cancer research · 2025Article
- The crosstalk of breast cancer and ischemic heart disease.Cell death discovery · 2025Review
- Pancreatic endocrine and exocrine signaling and crosstalk in physiological and pathological status.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Review
- Adverse drug events associated with insulin glargine: a real-world pharmacovigilance study based on the FAERS database.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Associations between Diabetes Mellitus and Selected Cancers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Association between insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and its components and lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2024Review
- Review
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAn association of insulin use and risk of cancer has been reported but evidence is conflicting and methodological issues have been identified.
objectiveTo summarize results regarding insulin use and cancer risk by a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort and case-control studies examining risk of cancer associated with insulin use in patients with diabetes. DATA SOURCES: Systematic literature search in 5 databases: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Library. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA (PICOS): POPULATION: diabetes patients. EXPOSURE: Users of any exogenous insulin. Comparison: Diabetes patients with or without use of antidiabetic drugs. OUTCOME: Any incident cancer. STUDY
designCohort and case-control studies.
results42 eligible studies examined risk of any cancer and 27 site-specific cancers. Results of individual studies were heterogeneous. Meta-analyses were significant for: Insulin vs No Insulin: Increased risk for pancreas, liver, kidney, stomach and respiratory cancer, decreased risk for prostate cancer. Insulin vs Non-Insulin Antidiabetics: Increased risk for any, pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Glargine vs Non-Glargine Insulin: Increased risk for breast cancer, decreased risk for colon cancer. LIMITATIONS: Few studies available for most cancer sites and exposure contrasts, and few assess effect of dose and duration of exposure. Methodological issues in several studies. Availability of confounders.
conclusionsInsulin use was associated with risk of cancer at several sites. Cautious interpretation of results is warranted as methodological issues and limitations in several of the included studies have been identified. Choice of study design may have a profound effect on estimated cancer risk.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.