Diabetes mellitus and the risk of vulvar and vaginal cancer: results from a large cohort study
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Although diabetes mellitus has been associated with increased risk of several cancers, evidence in relation to vulvar and vaginal cancers has been limited and inconsistent. We investigated the association between diabetes and diabetes complications and the risk of vulvar and vaginal cancer risk in a nationwide cohort of 2.8 million women in Taiwan.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 2.8 million women with and without diabetes mellitus aged 18-90 years was conducted. Multivariable proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between diabetes diagnosis and the risk of vulvar and vaginal cancer.
Results: During 7.8 years follow-up, 553 vulvar and 506 vaginal cancer cases occurred. A history of diabetes mellitus was associated with higher risk of vulvar cancer with a HR (95% CIs) of 1.34 (1.12-1.60), but not vaginal cancer (1.09, 0.91-1.31). The HR was 1.97 (0.95-4.11) for early-onset and 1.34 (1.12-1.61) for later-onset vulvar cancer and 1.81 (0.76-4.32) for early-onset and 1.09 (0.90-1.31) for later-onset vaginal cancer. The associations were similar when restricted to type 2 diabetes cases, and when excluding the first 5 years of follow-up.
Conclusion: These findings suggest diabetes mellitus is associated with increased risk of vulvar, but not vaginal cancer. Further studies are needed to clarify these findings.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 2.8 million women with and without diabetes mellitus aged 18-90 years was conducted. Multivariable proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between diabetes diagnosis and the risk of vulvar and vaginal cancer.
Results: During 7.8 years follow-up, 553 vulvar and 506 vaginal cancer cases occurred. A history of diabetes mellitus was associated with higher risk of vulvar cancer with a HR (95% CIs) of 1.34 (1.12-1.60), but not vaginal cancer (1.09, 0.91-1.31). The HR was 1.97 (0.95-4.11) for early-onset and 1.34 (1.12-1.61) for later-onset vulvar cancer and 1.81 (0.76-4.32) for early-onset and 1.09 (0.90-1.31) for later-onset vaginal cancer. The associations were similar when restricted to type 2 diabetes cases, and when excluding the first 5 years of follow-up.
Conclusion: These findings suggest diabetes mellitus is associated with increased risk of vulvar, but not vaginal cancer. Further studies are needed to clarify these findings.
Date Issued
2026-03-28
Date Acceptance
2026-03-24
Citation
BMC Women's Health, 2026, 26
ISSN
1472-6874
Publisher
BMC
Journal / Book Title
BMC Women's Health
Volume
26
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1186/s12905-026-04429-8
Subjects
Diabetes mellitus
Vulvar cancer
Vaginal cancer
Cohort
Taiwan
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
236
Date Publish Online
2026-03-29