Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. May 15, 2025; 16(5): 103403
Published online May 15, 2025. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v16.i5.103403
Increased colorectal cancer risk in prediabetes: A meta-analysis
Na Wang, Tian-Yi Zhao, Xiao Ma
Na Wang, Tian-Yi Zhao, Xiao Ma, Physical Examination Center, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
Author contributions: Wang N contributed to conceptualization, formal analysis, methodology, software, and wrote original draft; Wang N and Zhao TY performed data curation and investigation; Ma X contributed to funding acquisition and supervision; Wang N, Zhao TY, and Ma X reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Supported by National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding, No. 2023-NHLHCRF-YXHZ-ZRMS-06.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao Ma, MD, Physical Examination Center, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, No. 47 Wenxueguan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China. redapple3155@qq.com
Received: November 19, 2024
Revised: January 21, 2025
Accepted: February 21, 2025
Published online: May 15, 2025
Processing time: 157 Days and 17.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Previous research yielded conflicting results regarding the association between prediabetes and colorectal cancer (CRC).

AIM

To systematically assess the incidence of CRC in individuals with prediabetes compared with individuals with normoglycemia via a meta-analysis.

METHODS

Relevant cohort studies were acquired by searching MEDLINE, Web of Science, and EMBASE. A random-effects model was applied to combine the findings after accounting for heterogeneity. Several subgroup analyses were conducted to assess the impact of study characteristics on the results.

RESULTS

Eleven cohort studies involving 4996352 participants, including 383917 (7.7%) with prediabetes at baseline, were analyzed in this meta-analysis. Over a mean follow-up period of 6.5 years, the combined findings revealed that individuals with prediabetes at baseline had a higher likelihood of developing CRC than those with normoglycemia [risk ratio (RR) = 1.18, 95% confidence interval = 1.11 to 1.25, P < 0.001] with low statistical heterogeneity (I2 = 27%). Subgroup analyses indicated that the association between prediabetes and an increased risk of CRC was mainly observed in studies defining prediabetes using impaired fasting glucose (RR = 1.24) and slightly elevated hemoglobin A1c levels (RR = 1.18) but not in those that defined prediabetes using impaired glucose tolerance (RR = 1.06). Other study characteristics such as design, country, participant age and sex, the duration of follow-up, or adjustment for body mass index did not significantly impact the results (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

People with prediabetes might have a higher likelihood of developing CRC than individuals with normoglycemia.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Prediabetes; Incidence; Risk factor; Meta-analysis

Core Tip: Previous research yielded conflicting results regarding the association between prediabetes and colorectal cancer (CRC). We conducted a meta-analysis to systematically assess the incidence of CRC in individuals with prediabetes compared with those with normoglycemia. A significant 18% increase in the occurrence of CRC among individuals with prediabetes compared with those with normoglycemia was observed. These results suggested that people with prediabetes have a higher likelihood of developing CRC than those with normoglycemia.