Association Between Maternal Diabetes and the Risk of Cancers in Mother-Offspring: A Meta-Analysis of 44.9 Million...

Diabetes mellitus is widely regarded as a risk factor for cancers. There is considerable controversy over whether maternal diabetes can cause cancer. This study aims to comprehensively assess and quantify the association between maternal diabetes and the risk of cancers in mother-offspring.

The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched up to September 30, 2025, to explore the impact of maternal diabetes on cancer in mothers and their offspring. The primary outcome was the risk of cancers in the mother or offspring, presented as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The I ² statistic is used to assess heterogeneity among studies, thereby guiding the selection of random-effects or common-effects models.

The 81 studies involving 44 917 447 mother-offspring. Maternal diabetes was associated with increased risks of any cancers in mothers and offspring. In studies adjusted for multiple confounders, the risk of offspring suffering from haematological malignancies (RR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.23-1.52; I ²  = 1.0%) has significantly increased, especially leukaemia (1.34; 1.22-1.47; 0.0%). However, the risk of solid tumours (1.17; 1.09-1.24; 70.1%) in mothers increases significantly, especially, head and neck (1.34; 1.23-1.47; 35.1%), respiratory system (1.33; 1.05-1.67; 0.0%), gastrointestinal (1.30; 1.16-1.45; 45.5%), and gynecologic (1.16; 1.04-1.29; 64.1%). Maternal pre-gestational diabetes was more strongly associated with the risk of most cancers in offspring than gestational diabetes (1.60 [1.14-2.14] vs. 1.10 [1.02-1.18]; subgroup difference p = 0.0046).

Maternal diabetes is associated with an increased risk of cancers in mothers and offspring. Further high-quality large-sample studies are needed to clarify and consolidate potential causal relationships.