Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Data on the relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cancer consistently suggests the involvement of metabolic mechanisms such as inflammation, obesity, and glucose alteration. These mechanisms, including the activation of factors like IGF-1 or m-TOR, may influence the development of cancer.

Aim: Our study had two main objectives. Firstly, we aimed to investigate the relationship between specific identifiable factors associated with T2D and the timing of cancer onset. Secondly, we sought to examine the relationship among cancer recurrence, second primary cancers, and the presence of either of them, while considering the same variables.

Methods: We selected 1089 patients affected by both T2D and cancer, carried out from the Smart Digital Clinic electronic medical record system using relevant key words related to the field of cancer. The variables of interest were measured at baseline and during the last visit of follow-up. For statistical purposes, only the variables at baseline were compared to the time of cancer onset. Subsequently, all variables were stratified by sex. Various types of cancers were classified based on the organ system they affected.

Results: Almost all the variables considered had not a statistically significant relationship with the time of cancer onset. Smoking resulted the only factor that can influence it (P=0.0024). Furthermore, when considering cancer recurrence, second primary cancer, or either of them, none of the variables showed a relationship with them. The same variables were stratified by sex at baseline and at the last visit of follow-up. Females were found to be more overweight (P=0.0314) and in need of higher doses of insulin (P=0.0181) compared to males. This is because they had worse glucose control, with higher levels of HbA1c (P=0.0004) and fasting blood glucose (P=0.0348) compared to males both at baseline and at the last visit. On the contrary, males had a higher rate of smoking and alcohol consumption compared to females (both P<0.0001). Lastly, among the variables considered and the three events (cancer recurrence, second primary cancer and either of them), the only variable found to be sex-related was the LDL-cholesterol compared to cancer recurrence, which was slightly higher in female than males (P=0.0356).

Conclusion: We observed that, apart from smoking, all the variables considered identifiable factors with T2D had not an influence on the time of cancer onset, as well as on cancer recurrence, second primary cancer or either of them.