Rizza S, Rossini V, Cardellini M, et al. - Given many risk factors are shared by atherosclerosis and cancer, indicating that at least partially their pathogenesis is sustained by common mechanisms, researchers examined this link by observing a group of individuals with carotid atherosclerosis at baseline for malignancy development in this observational study. Participants were people with recognized carotid atherosclerosis at baseline (n = 766) without prior cancer or carotid vascular procedures. These people were analyzed for cancer incidence (study endpoint). Participants were observed for 160 ± 111 weeks, during which, the occurrence of 24 cancer was reported, corresponding to an overall annual incidence rate of 0.11%. Carotid stenosis > 50% and diabetes continued to be significantly related to cancer diagnosis, after controlling for classic risk factors. In individuals having diabetes and a high risk of cerebrovascular events, a significant risk of cancer development was found for the first time ever in this study. This emphasizes the requirement of a careful clinical screening for cancer among diabetic patients with overt carotid atherosclerosis.