A new study has found that diabetes was associated with an increased risk for developing a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.

"People with diabetes have a two- to threefold higher risk for hepatocellular carcinoma compared with those without diabetes," V. Wendy Setiawan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, said.

"We also found that the interethnic differences in the prevalence of diabetes were consistent with the pattern of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence observed across ethnicities: Ethnic groups with a high prevalence of diabetes also have high hepatocellular carcinoma rates, and those with a lower prevalence of diabetes have lower hepatocellular carcinoma rates," Setiawan said.

Setiawan and colleagues examined if the association between diabetes and hepatocellular carcinoma differed by race or ethnic group. They analyzed data from more than 150,000 people enrolled in the Multiethnic Cohort Study between 1993 and 1996.

Compared with non-Hispanic whites, Latinos had 2.77 times the risk for being diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, the highest risk identified. Native Hawaiians had 2.48 times the risk; African-Americans, 2.16; and Japanese-Americans, 2.07.

The prevalence of diabetes was consistent with that of hepatocellular carcinoma. Sixteen percent of Hawaiians, 15 percent of Latinos and African-Americans, 10 percent of Japanese-Americans, and 6 percent of non-Hispanic whites had diabetes.

The study was presented at the Sixth AACR Conference.