Patients with diabetes—especially the elderly—are at high risk for morbidity and mortality due to cancer, studies have shown. Researchers from Specialist District Hospital and University of Rzeszow in Poland say their study “sheds some new light” in demonstrating another kind of association between diabetes and cancer in older patients: a higher risk of hospitalization with surgery due to cancer.
They analyzed data on 7,694 patients aged > 45 years hospitalized in a surgery ward. Of those, 652 were diagnosed with cancer and 370 with diabetes; 93 patients had both. The most common kind of cancer was urinary bladder cancer. The researchers note that their surgical unit has a large urology subdivision. Patients with other site-specific cancers are usually referred to more specialized clinical units.
Diabetes was the strongest predictor of risk among the variables analyzed, although urban residence also was a significant predictor. Risk of hospitalization due to cancer doubled among diabetic patients aged 45 to 65 years and was > 5 times higher among patients aged > 65 years, compared with the nondiabetic patients. The highest risk of hospitalization for site-specific cancers was among patients with kidney and breast cancers.
The researchers say their findings suggest that it is “advisable to make major efforts” for early detection and early radical treatment in older patients with diabetes.
Source:
Dᾳbrowski M, Grindecka A. Arch Med Sci. 2017;13(5):1025-1030.
doi: 10.5114/aoms.2016.58666.
