Insulin glargine and incidence of cancer--an ongoing debate.

Corresponding Author: Norbert Hermanns, Ph.D., Research Institute of the Diabetes Academy Mergentheim (FIDAM), P.O. Box 1144, D-97961 Bad Mergentheim, Germany; email address [email protected] Hemkens and colleagues1 published a registry study that demonstrated a significantly increased risk of a cancer diagnosis associated with high dosages of insulin glargine [relative risk (RR), 1.18; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–1.28, adjusted for various factors and insulin dosage]. However, the subsequent scientific discussion clearly revealed many methodological weaknesses of this study.2,3 Nevertheless, this study raised concerns among health care professionals about exposing diabetes patients to an unnecessary cancer risk by use of insulin glargine. Therefore, follow-up on this matter, based on currently available data and a closer look at the original publication, may help to clarify further the putative cancer risk of insulin glargine.