BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study confirms that people with diabetes are more vulnerable to colon cancer. This makes abiding by colorectal cancer screening guidelines especially important for diabetics.

    Investigators reported the study findings this week at the 70th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Honolulu.

    "Diabetics are 1.4 times more likely to have been told they have colon cancer," said Dr. Donald Garrow, a clinical instructor and a masters in clinical research fellow at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

    "We thought that diabetics would be at increased risk of colon cancer because receptors for insulin are present on (colon tissue)," Garrow said. "So if you have high levels of insulin, as diabetics often do for years, that attack on the colonic mucosa can lead to changes that can become colon cancer."

    Garrow's team based its findings on data involving more than 226,000 Americans, collected from 1997 to 2003 as part of the National Health Interview Survey.

    A total of 5.9 percent of respondents had a history of diabetes. Even after compensating for other factors that affect risk -- age, gender, alcohol use, tobacco use and exercise -- the researchers found that individuals with diabetes were more likely than non-diabetics to develop colon cancer.

    Garrow said the study highlights the fact that diabetics must be especially careful to follow colorectal cancer screening guidelines. The American Cancer Society now recommends that, beginning at age 50, men and women at average risk should be screened with tests such as the fecal occult blood test, invasive exams such as sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, and/or double barium enema.

    (Agencies)