Cancer and diabetes a daunting combination

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with cancer who also have diabetes are often treated less aggressively and have a worse overall outlook than those without diabetes, Dutch investigators report.

Dr. Lonneke V. van de Poll-Franse, of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Eindhoven, and colleagues examined the prevalence of diabetes among people recently diagnosed with cancer, along with the influence of diabetes on cancer stage at diagnosis, treatment and overall survival.

The subjects included 58,498 patients diagnosed between 1995 and 2002 and entered in a cancer registry. Patients were followed until January 1, 2005.

Nine percent of all cancer patients had diabetes at diagnosis, the investigators report in the International Journal of Cancer.

Patients with diabetes were more often diagnosed with advanced tumors than non-diabetic individuals. In addition, diabetics were treated with less chemotherapy and radiation than those without diabetes.

Overall, 3902 of 5555 cancer patients with diabetes and 29,909 of 52,943 cancer patients without diabetes died during follow-up.

After taking account of cancer stage at diagnosis, age, gender, and treatment, "we found that patients with diabetes experienced a significant increase in overall mortality," the investigators report. The increase ranged up to 40 percent, depending on the type of cancer.

"With the ageing of the population, the number of persons who suffer from more than one chronic disease is increasing," the researchers point out. "As a consequence, more and more patients require a multidisciplinary approach for their multiple diseases."

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, May 2007.