Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Pancreatic Cancer (PC) is uncommon; however, it is one of the most deadly cancer types of all. New-onset diabetes (NOD) is associated with a higher risk of pancreatic cancer than general population, particularly if late-onset. An association between new-onset diabetes and increased mortality in patients with pancreatic cancer has been suggested but clinical relevant differences between those individuals with new-onset diabetes and those without are not well established in this population.

Aims: We aim to identify if any clinical differences between individuals with new-onset diabetes and those without exist within a cohort of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Materials and methods: The data was obtained from an institutional registry of 236 patients with pancreatic cancer at ‘12 de Octubre’ University Hospital in Madrid, Spain during the period of time from 2013 to 2017. The patients’ imaging studies and hospital records were reviewed. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) was defined by known medical history, or abnormal fasting blood glucose and HbA1c levels according to the American Diabetes Association 2019 criteria within four years of the cancer diagnosis. New-onset diabetes was defined by an arbitrary duration cutoff of ≤ 3 years since diagnosis. SPSS25.0 software package was used to perform the statistical analysis.

Results: A total of 222 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. Patients were predominantly white (215, 96.8%) males (55%) with a median (Interquartile range, IQR) age of 69 (15) years. The median age of the patients was 69 years; 62 (27.9%) patients were 76 years of age or older and had pathologically confirmed pancreatic cancer. Almost one third of patients (27.3%) presented NOD criteria before PC diagnosis, it accounted for 31.6% of those with a previous history of diabetes. Before PC diagnosis, Patients with NOD had presented impaired fasting glucose more frequently than those without NOD, they also presented with higher fasting plasma glucose value at diagnosis of PC (P < 0.05). There were no statistical differences in terms of previous history of alcohol consumption, smoking, body-mass index, hepatitis B or C virus immune status, family history of pancreatic cancer or diabetes, A1c, Ca19.9, Amylase, GOT, Alkaline Phosphatase, or GGTvalues at diagnosis of PC (P > 0.05). Tumor location, size or stage, presence of metastatic disease, metastatic location or bile duct obstruction did not differ between individuals with NOD and those without NOD (P > 0.05).