Women who develop gestational diabetes are not more likely to go on to be diagnosed with breast cancer, according to a study of almost three-quarters of a million mothers to be presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) (Madrid, 9-13 September). Gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that can develop during pregnancy, affects 14% of pregnant women globally and is becoming more common, with those who are living with obesity, have a family history of diabetes and/or older at greater risk. Race and ethnicity can also affect risk.
It usually goes away after giving birth. However, women who have had it are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the years to come. Gestational diabetes is also associated with higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease and mental health conditions, including post-natal depression.
Insulin resistance, where the body's cells don't respond properly to insulin and can't easily take up glucose from blood, causing blood sugar levels to rise, is a key feature of gestational diabetes and has also been linked to breast cancer. Some studies have found that gestational diabetes is associated with a higher risk of being subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer. But other research has concluded that the risk of breast cancer is lower – or that there is no link at all.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer , as well as the leading cause of cancer d.