Cancer, diabetes, survival and glycemic control: a large multisite analysis

Nina J Karlin; Heidi E Kosiorek; Patricia M Verona; Kyle E Coppola; Curtiss B Cook

doi:10.2144/fsoa-2022-0018

Cancer, diabetes, survival and glycemic control: a large multisite analysis

Future Sci OA. 2023 Jan 9;8(9):FSO820. doi: 10.2144/fsoa-2022-0018. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Nina J Karlin¹, Heidi E Kosiorek², Patricia M Verona³, Kyle E Coppola⁴, Curtiss B Cook⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Hematology & Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
² Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
³ Information Technology, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
⁴ Cancer Registry, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
⁵ Division of Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.

Abstract

Aim: To determine overall survival (OS) and glycemic control in patients with cancer and diabetes.

Materials & methods: Patients of our institution with breast, colon, lung, pancreas and prostate cancer were retrospectively reviewed. OS was compared between matched patients with and without diabetes, and changes in glucose value over time were assessed.

Results: For 3934 patients each with and without diabetes, adjusted analysis showed no difference in OS according to diabetes status (hazard ratio: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.96-1.20). Mean glucose values decreased over time in patients with and without diabetes (p = 0.01).

Conclusion: In this large study of patients with five common cancers, the co-occurrence of diabetes did not affect OS. Cancer did not adversely affect glucose levels.

Keywords: cancer; oncology; outcomes research.

Plain language summary

The aim of this study was to evaluate survival and glucose control in patients with cancer and diabetes at three separate geographic locations in a single health system. From an institutional cancer registry, we identified patients with breast, colon, lung, pancreas and prostate cancers. Patients with and without diabetes were matched by age, sex, cancer type, staging, geographic location and year of cancer diagnosis. In this study, the co-occurrence of diabetes did not affect overall survival. Cancer did not adversely affect glucose levels.