Diabetes mellitus and the risk of ovarian cancer: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort and case–control studies

The present study, being an updated meta-analysis, implies a modest, statistically significant increase in the risk of ovarian cancer development which is associated with diabetes mellitus; although the overall calculated effect size remains small. While the potential biological mechanisms linking diabetes mellitus to ovarian cancer development are plausible, diabetes mellitus does not appear to be a significant risk factor independently. Future prospective studies that incorporate comprehensive phenotyping, treatment exposure plus molecular tumor characteristics are of most necessity to further elucidate this association and enhance risk stratification.