I am not currently using Lantus insulin, but I have on and off for many years when I was not wearing the pump. So the news that Lantus does not increase the risk of cancer is welcome.
“The study’s lead investigator, Peter Boyle and president of the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France, said the meta-analysis “highlights the need to go beyond single study reports and utilize all available data.” He added that “in the context of all available information, the current evidence supports that insulin glargine is associated with no increased risk of cancer as compared to other insulin therapies.”
Read More here: DiabetesinControl
He added that “patients using insulin may be compared to patients not using insulin, which might be a gigantic methodological mistake. People using insulin are usually much older and have been diabetic for many years.”
Well hmmmm, my daughter is 15yrs old and has been on insulin since 3 yrs old… so what’s older and what’s many years…
I find these statements troubling when in my reality it’s the very young that may be put at risk …
The science is not clear and this was sooooo not conclusive when I know Lantus is NOT exclusive for the old diabetic … studies like this trouble me because they do not address the dynamically different demographics that Lantus is used in and well Type 1s are for life and ah unknown risk… at this stage of the game…
You are right Sandra that the science is not clear and more research needs to be done to assure Lantus users that we are not at increased risk.
According to a piece in Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/07/sanofi-lantus-idUSL5E7N72AZ20111207, more research is in the works:
“In order to address the concerns raised in 2009, Sanofi is sponsoring a large research programme, with final results of the first study based on Nordic databases — representing 1 million patient years of Lantus treatment — due to be presented to international regulators by the end of this month.”