Insulin analog glargine may up cancer risk

COLOGNE, Germany, July 6 (UPI) -- German medical researchers say they've determined diabetics who use the long-acting insulin analog glargine might face an increased risk of cancer.

Scientists at the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, in collaboration with the research institute of the German Local Health Care Fund, analyzed data from nearly 130,000 diabetes patients who had been treated with either human insulin or the insulin analogues lispro (Humalog), aspart (Novorapid) or glargine (Lantus) between January 2001 and June 2005.

Insulin analogues are synthetic molecules that do not occur naturally, whereas human insulin matches the insulin the human body manufactures itself.

The researchers said malignancies were found more frequently in patients treated with glargine than in those prescribed a comparable dose of human insulin.

"Our analysis does not provide absolute proof that glargine promotes cancer," Peter Sawicki, co-author of the study, said. "Our study does, however, arouse an urgent suspicion which should have consequences for the treatment of patients."

No difference was found between the short-acting insulin analogues, lispro and aspart, and human insulin.

The analysis is reported in the journal Diabetologia, the official journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.