By Michelle Fay Cortez and Trista Kelley

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Insulin and the medicines that increase the hormone may boost cancer risk in people with diabetes, while drugs that make the body more sensitive to insulin may lower the danger, said researchers at a diabetes conference in Europe.

A review of studies presented by half-a-dozen doctors, involving thousands of patients, wasn’t able to prove the safety of Sanofi-Aventis SA’s long-acting insulin Lantus, the investigators said. The problem may be that patients don’t fully respond to the insulin they already have, said Edwin Gale, professor of diabetes at the University of Bristol in the U.K.

European scientists startled medical professionals in June when they reported that Lantus, the world’s biggest-selling insulin, may increase the risk of cancer. More research is needed, according to a panel of doctors convened yesterday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna. The diabetes group, based in Dusseldorf, Germany, said it would spend 3 million euros ($4.4 million) in the next three years funding studies into the topic.

“I’m not changing my clinical practice because we’re not at that stage yet, but I’m certainly aware of the potentially negative effect,” said Ulf Smith, EASD president and professor of internal medicine at Goeteborg University in Sweden. “We need to understand more.”

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