Common Diabetes Drug Reduces Cancer Risk In Women

Those with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop cancer and cancer recurrence than those without the disease. However, according to Sangeeta R. Kashyap, MD, certain diabetes medications can lower a woman's risk.
"Cancer is a very big health risk for patients with diabetes," Kashyap told Endocrine Today. "Patients need to be aware that diabetes drugs can be used in certain ways to have favorable results on lowering cancer risk. Physicians also need to be actively involved with managing cancer risk in patients with diabetes because drugs that we use to lower glucose levels can either have favorable or unfavorable consequences."
Kashyap is an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at Cleveland's Clinic Endocrinology and Metabolism Institute. She and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of the electronic health records-based Cleveland Clinic Diabetes Registry and compared it to the histology-based tumor registry during an eight year period to investigate the potential association between cancer incidence and commonly prescribed diabetes medication.
"What we found was that there were over 800 incident cancer cases in this group, confirmed by tissue diagnosis. We also found that the most common cancer was prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women; that diabetes drugs in men did not influence cancer risk for development. However, in women, the use of TZDs in contrast to sulfonylureas were associated with 30% less cancer risk," Kashyap said.
They also identified 892 cases of cancer, including prostate (14.5%) and breast (11.7%) malignancies. In women, TZDs were associated with a 32% decreased cancer risk compared with sulfonylureas.
"In general, what we found is that drugs that lower insulin levels have better effects on lowering cancer risk. Lowering insulin levels can lower or cut cancer risks in women in particular," said Kashyap.
Reference: Healio
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