OBJECTIVEDiabetes is a major predictor of death from heart disease and stroke; its impact on nonvascular mortality, including specific cancers, is less understood. We examined the association of diabetes with cause-specific mortality, including deaths from specific cancers.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA prospective cohort of 1,053,831 U.S. adults, without cancer at baseline, enrolled in the Cancer Prevention Study-II in 1982 and was followed for mortality until December 2008. At baseline, participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that included information on diabetes, smoking, physical activity, height, and weight. Multivariable-adjusted relative risks (RRs) (95% CI) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression.RESULTSDuring 26 years of follow-up, 243,051 men and 222,109 women died. In multivariable models that controlled for age, BMI, and other variables, diabetes was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (women RR 1.90 [95% CI 1.87–1.93]; men 1.73 [1.70–1.75]). Among women, diabetes was associated with higher risk of death from cancers of the liver (1.40 [1.05–1.86]), pancreas (1.31 [1.14–1.51]), endometrium (1.33 [1.08–1.65]), colon (1.18 [1.04–1.33]), and breast (1.16 [1.03–1.29]). Among men, diabetes was associated with risk of death from cancers of the breast (4.20 [2.20–8.04]), liver (2.26 [1.89–2.70]), oral cavity and pharynx (1.44 [1.07–1.94]), pancreas (1.40 [1.23–1.59]), bladder (1.22 [1.01–1.47]), colon (1.15 [1.03–1.29]), and (inversely) prostate (0.88 [0.79–0.97]). Diabetes was also associated with higher risks of death involving the circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system, genitourinary system, and external causes/accidental deaths.CONCLUSIONSDiabetes is associated with higher risk of death for many diseases, including several specific forms of cancer.

These results emphasize the importance of WC as a risk factor for mortality in older adults, regardless of BMI.

This study suggests that prediagnosis BMI, but not postdiagnosis BMI, is an important predictor of survival among patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer.

More recreational physical activity before and after colorectal cancer diagnosis was associated with lower mortality, whereas longer leisure time spent sitting was associated with higher risk of death.

HMG-coA reductase inhibitors, commonly known as statins, account for the great majority of cholesterollowering drug use. However, little is known about the association between long-term statin use and incidence of most types of cancers. We examined the association between long-term use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, predominantly statins, and the incidence of ten common cancers, as well as overall cancer incidence, among 133,255 participants (60,059 men and 73,196 women) in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort during the period from 1997 to 2007. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate relative risks (RR). Current use status and duration of use were updated during follow-up using information from biennial follow-up questionnaires. Current use of cholesterol-lowering drugs for five or more years was not associated with overall cancer incidence (RR ¼ 0.97, 95% CI ¼ 0.92-1.03), or incidence of prostate, breast, colorectal, lung, bladder, renal cell, or pancreatic cancer but was associated with lower risk of melanoma (RR ¼ 0.79, 95% CI ¼ 0.66-0.96), endometrial cancer (RR ¼ 0.65, 95% CI ¼ 0.45-0.94), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL; RR ¼ 0.74, 95% CI ¼ 0.62-0.89). These results suggest that long-term use of statins is unlikely to substantially increase or decrease overall cancer risk. However, associations between long-term statin use and risk of endometrial cancer, melanoma, and NHL deserve further investigation.