Hwangbo Y, et al. - In a large Korean cohort, researchers assessed if the development of cancer was correlated with increased risk of ensuing diabetes. Findings revealed that cancer was correlated with an increased risk of diabetes in cancer survivors, independent of traditional diabetes risk factors. It was noted that patients with cancer develop other clinical problems, like diabetes, with increased incidence vs individuals without cancer. Therefore, routine diabetes screening should be considered in these patients.

Methods

• For this investigation, a nationally representative sample of the Korean general population was observed for up to 10 years (January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2013).
• An aggregate of 524,089 men and women 20 to 70 years old without diabetes and with no history of cancer at baseline were involved.
• Incident cancer (time-varying exposure) was the main exposure.
• Incident type 2 diabetes using insurance claim codes was the main outcome and measure.

Results

• According to the findings obtained, during 3,492,935.6 person-years of follow-up (median follow-up, 7 years) in 494,189 people (50% female; mean [SD] age, 41.8 [12.5] years), 15,130 members developed cancer and 26,610 members developed diabetes.
• The hazard ratio (HR) for diabetes associated with cancer development was 1.35 (95% CI, 1.26-1.45; P < .001) after adjustment for age, sex, precancer diabetes risk factors, metabolic factors, and comorbidities.
• Data reported that the excess risk for diabetes was highest in the first 2 years after cancer diagnosis, but remained elevated throughout follow-up.
• Researchers found that by cancer type, development of pancreatic (HR, 5.15; 95% CI, 3.32-7.99), kidney (HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.34-3.16), liver (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.50-2.54), gallbladder (HR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.08-2.98), lung (HR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.34-2.24), blood (HR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.07-2.43), breast (HR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.27-2.01), stomach (HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.16-1.58), and thyroid cancer (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.12-1.59) was correlated with a significantly increased risk of diabetes.