The study of data records of 473 patients in San Antonio who underwent surgery for renal cell carcinomas found that 25% had a history of diabetes.

More than 60% of the patients were Hispanics, and men outnumbered women among the kidney cancer cases overall. However, 1.5 times more women with kidney cancer were diabetic, according to the analysis conducted at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. The kidney cancer cases covered the period from 1994 to 2009.

The study shows that diabetes increases the incidence of the clear cell type of renal cell carcinoma from 80% to 92%, the authors said. The majority of tumors tended to be small and localized, indicating a favorable response to therapy and survival. Some of the cancers were likely found when the patients underwent CT scans or magnetic resonance imaging trying to diagnose other diabetic complications, the authors said. The majority of diabetic patients diagnosed with kidney cancer were 50-59 years of age, whereas incidence of kidney cancer is more frequent in patients who are in their 60s.