The chance of developing some of the deadliest tumours is up to five times higher in women recently diagnosed with the disease, the Guardian reports.

People who develop type 2 diabetes face an increased risk of some of the deadliest cancers, including liver and pancreatic tumours, with the biggest increase in women, research suggests.

The analysis of the health records of 95,000 people found that the risk of pancreatic cancer was almost twice as high and the chance of developing liver cancer almost five times higher in women recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

The odds of developing cancer also increased in men, with type 2 diabetes associated with a 74% increase in pancreatic cancer and a near quadrupling of liver cancer risk in the five years after diagnosis.

A smaller effect was seen for bowel cancer, with a 34% higher risk of the disease in women and a 27% higher risk in men recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes compared with people without a recent diabetes diagnosis.

"Diabetes and obesity are linked to similar cancers," said Owen Tipping, a medical student who worked on the study with Andrew Renehan, professor of cancer research and surgery at the University of Manchester. "Our study found the effect of diabetes on cancer after adjusting for obesity."

Previous studies have linked obesity to 13 types of cancer, many of which are also more common in people with type 2 diabetes. But researchers are struggling to understand whether diabetes itself increases the risk of some or all cancers.

For the latest study, the Manchester group turned to UK Biobank, which holds medical and lifestyle data on half a million people. They examined the records of 23,750 people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and compared them with more than 70,000 matched controls without diabetes.

There is a trend of a spike in cancer diagnoses shortly after people are found to have diabetes, simply because patients undergo more medical tests. The researchers explain this spike in cancer due to better detection by ignoring cases reported within a year of being diagnosed with diabetes.

According to the study, after five years, the risk of obesity-related cancer was 48% higher for men newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes than for those without the condition. For women, the risk was 24% higher compared to those with a recent diabetes diagnosis.

However, not all obesity-related cancers are increased by diabetes. Women with diabetes are no more likely to develop endometrial or breast cancer after menopause than those without, according to the study, which will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain, in May.

In the general population, the risks of developing liver and pancreatic cancer are higher in men than in women. In the UK, one in 76 men and one in 130 women will develop liver cancer, while one in 55 men and one in 59 women will get pancreatic cancer.

Tipping says it's too early to know whether people with diabetes will benefit from cancer screening, but adds, "We know that with pancreatic cancer it's important to detect early."

It's not clear how diabetes can cause cancer, but scientists suspect high insulin levels, high blood sugar and chronic inflammation. Gender differences in the disease may be due to hormone levels, how sensitive the body is to the effects of insulin or variations in body fat.

Sophia Lawless from Cancer Research UK says: "This study helps to improve our understanding of the link between diabetes and cancer. Although many questions remain about how and why diabetes can cause cancer, research like this is vital to help us better prevent, detect and diagnose the disease.

"Overweight and obesity cause at least 13 different types of cancer. The world around us doesn't always make it easy, but maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy, balanced diet is one way to reduce your risk of cancer. There are other steps people can take, such as not smoking and cutting down on alcohol. "I BGNES