New Analysis shows two risk factors most strongly linked to the death of individuals with type 2 diabetes and cancer.
People with type 2 diabetes (T2D) who get cancer are more likely to die in the next seven years if they smoke or don’t do much physical activity, according to new research of more than 500,000 people to be presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm, Sweden (19-23 Sept).
As the leading cause of death among people with diabetes, cancer has just surpassed cardiovascular disease.
The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Tinne Laurberg of the Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark, argues that people with type 2 diabetes now enjoy a higher life expectancy than they did in the past.
“This is likely due to a combination of improvements in diabetes treatment and in the prevention of cardiovascular disease,” says the author.
“As the proportion of deaths from heart disease has declined, however, the proportion due to cancer,” according to the author, “has increased and, as a result, individuals with type 2 diabetes are now more likely to die from cancer than from cardiovascular disease.
To stop this rise, Dr. Laurberg and his colleagues in Denmark and Sweden looked into what factors influence survival for persons with T2D who are diagnosed with breast, lung, prostate, or colorectal cancer.
The longitudinal study comprised 655,344 T2D patients, 43% of whom were female, who were registered in the Swedish National Diabetes Register between 1998 and 2019. Study participants averaged 63 years old.
Following up with the participants lasted an average of seven years. At the beginning of the trial, they were all cancer-free, and over the course of the follow-up, 32,366 of them acquired one of the four malignancies.
179,627 people passed away while the study was ongoing. Nearly three times (2.89 times) as many people with cancer died from any cause as people without cancer.
The diabetes registry provided information on modifiable diabetes-related risk factors, including HbA1c (average blood sugar level), cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, hypertension, BMI, smoking, and physical activity.
According to analysis, smoking and a lack of physical exercise are the two risk factors most strongly associated with the death of people with diabetes and cancer. During the study, smokers were 2.15 times more likely to die than people who didn’t smoke. Physical inactivity (less than 3-5 days per week) was linked to a 1.6 increase in the chance of death.
In those with diabetes but no cancer, smoking and lack of exercise showed the highest links with premature death.
According to Dr. Laurberg, smoking and inactivity are behaviors that most people have probably had their entire lives, which may have led to the development of diabetes and cancer.
The findings of the study suggest “that these factors not only contribute to the occurrence of these two diseases but may increase the risk of an early death after diabetes and/or cancer occur,” adds the author.
The researchers come to the conclusion that whether or not a person has cancer, smoking and lack of exercise may be the two most significant risk factors for mortality in those with T2D.
Dr. Laurberg continues, “It is important that clinicians and public health practitioners continue to focus on smoking cessation and an active lifestyle at all stages of life. The results of this study suggest this to be the case after a diabetes diagnosis; regardless of the presence of cancer.”
Source: EASD Stockholm 2022 Abstract 847
Image Credit: Getty
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