Background: Surgical site infections (SSI) are the most common acquired infection during hospitalization and a major cause of morbidity, mortality, increased health care costs and delays in treatments for cancer patients. Objective: The objective of this literature review was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between uncontrolled blood glucose and the odds of developing a SSI among cancer patients. Interventions / Methods: A database search (which engaged PubMed, Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) was completed using the key words: ‘surgical site infection’ or ‘surgical wound infection’ OR ‘SSI’ AND cancer or neoplasms OR oncology OR tumor OR malignancy AND diabetes OR hyperglycemia AND risk factors. Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria to be included in this review. Results: The odds ratio for history of diabetes or hyperglycemia and SSI following cancer surgery varied across studies. This is likely explained in part by the fact that some types of surgery are more invasive than others, are more lengthy, and involve areas of the body that are more prone to infection. The study with the highest rate of SSI (62.1%) was among patients with oral cancer and the study with the lowest rate of SSI (3.1%) was among patients with spinal cancer. Conclusion: The literature review results suggested an association between SSI and patients with a history of diabetes mellitus or hyperglycemia. Key Words: Diabetes, cancer, literature review, surgical site infections, surgery, glucose