Bladder cancer mortality in diabetics in relation to saccharin consumption and smoking habits

Abstract

The frequency with which diabetes mellitus was mentioned on the death certificates of 18,773 patients dying from bladder carcinoma was compared with that of 19,709 patients dying from other cancers (excluding cancer of the lung and pancreas). The estimated relative risk of bladder cancer in diabetics was 0.98 with 95% confidence limits 0.70-1.38. There was no increase in risk of bladder carcinoma in patients with diabetes of long duration. Diabetics were shown by questionnaire to consume substantially more saccharin than non diabetics, and the duration of regular saccharin use by diabetics was highly correlated with the duration of this disease. There was therefore no evidence that consumption of above average amounts of saccharin leads to bladder cancer. The proportion of current smokers among diabetics was significantly less than among non diabetics, and this may account for a low relative risk of lung carcinoma in the former (0.72).