Abstract
The International Diabetes Federation Diabetes Atlas estimates a staggering 590 million
people affected with diabetes mellitus (DM) within the next two decades globally,
of which Type 2 DM will constitute more than 90%. The associated insulin resistance,
hyperinsulinemia, and hyperglycemia pose a further significant risk for developing
diverse malignant neoplasms. Diabetes and malignancy are multifactorial heterogeneous
diseases. The immune dysfunction secondary to Type 2 diabetes also reactivates latent
infections with high morbidity and mortality rates. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a ubiquitous
human herpes virus-4, is an oncogenic virus; its recrudescence in the immunocompromised
condition activates the expression of EBV latency genes, thus immortalizing the infected
cell and giving rise to lymphomas and carcinomas. Extranodal natural killer/T-cell
lymphoma (ENKTCL), common in South-East Asia and Latin America; is a belligerent type
of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) almost invariably associated with EBV. An analysis of
articles sourced from the PubMed database and Google Scholar web resource until February
2014, suggests an increasing incidence of NHL in Asia/India and of ENKTCL in India,
over the last few decades. This article reviews the epidemiological evidence linking
various neoplasms with Type 2 DM and prognosticates the emergence of ENKTCL as a common
lymphoreticular malignancy secondary to Type 2 diabetes, in the Indian population
in the next few decades.
Keywords
Asia - diabetes - Epstein-Barr virus - non-Hodgkin lymphoma - reactivation