Diabetes and high body mass index (BMI over 25 kg/m2) were the cause of 5.6% of new cancer cases worldwide in 2012 - equivalent to 7,92,600 cases, according to the first study to quantify the proportion of cancers due to these causes, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.
Low and middle-income countries across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa saw the largest increases in cancers due to diabetes and overweight and obesity, as the levels of diabetes and high BMI in these regions increased substantially between 1980 and 2002. For example, the number of diabetes-related cancers grew by 88% in 2012 for men in South Asia, increasing from 3500 cases in 1990 to 6600 cases in 2012. Similarly, cancer cases attributable to high BMI in women in sub-Saharan Africa increased by 80% -- from 5400 cases in 1990 to 9700 cases in 2012.