Risk of New-Onset Type 2 Diabetes Up After Cancer Diagnosis

FRIDAY, June 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Adults with a cancer diagnosis have increased incidence of new-onset type 2 diabetes, according to a research letter published online May 27 in Diabetes Care.

Lykke Sylow, Ph.D., from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and colleagues evaluated the incidence of type 2 diabetes following a cancer diagnosis and examined the impact of new-onset type 2 diabetes on overall survival in patients with cancer. Data were included for 51,353 incident cancer case subjects diagnosed from 2004 to 2015 without type 2 diabetes at diagnosis, each matched with 10 cancer- and type 2 diabetes-free age- and sex-matched controls.

The researchers identified an increased risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes for all cancers (hazard ratio, 1.09). Compared with control subjects, the hazard of new-onset type 2 diabetes was particularly strong for pancreatic cancer, cancer of the brain and other parts of the nervous system, and cancer of the corpus uteri (hazard ratios, 5.00, 1.54, and 1.41, respectively). Significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes was also seen for patients diagnosed with lung, urinary tract, and breast cancers (hazard ratios, 1.38, 1.32, and 1.20, respectively). The influence of new-onset type 2 diabetes on survival was examined in a subpopulation of 28,308 cancer patients. Compared to those without type 2 diabetes, those with new-onset type 2 diabetes in the two years after diagnosis had a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 1.21)

"Our data illustrate the need for increased focus on the development of type 2 diabetes in cancer survivors," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text