The lifestyle factors most often recommended for prevention and control of diabetes are also helpful in delaying and preventing certain forms of cancer. These factors include:

• Moderate exercise approved by a physician, typically 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
  
  
• Maintaining a healthy weight.
  
  
• Maintaining a good diet that includes foods high in fiber, such as whole grains, nuts, vegetables and fruits.
  
  
• Quitting smoking.
  
  
• Limiting alcohol.

Having regular physical examinations and keeping a complete medical history will also help.

In addition, people with diabetes should manage their glucose (blood sugar) carefully. Controlling diabetes and weight may, for example, reduce the risk of endometrial cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

Patients are advised to ask their physician whether they should have some cancer screening tests, such as colonoscopy, earlier and more frequently than nondiabetics.