ORLANDO, Fla. — Insulin-stimulating therapies such as incretin mimetics did not accelerate development of pancreatic adenocarcinomas among patients with diabetes in a study presented at Digestive Disease Week.
Researchers evaluated data from patients with pancreatic adenocarcinomas, including 132 patients with and 318 patients without diabetes. Treatment history for those with diabetes was collected and self-reported questionnaires, with participants stratified according to treatment with insulin alone (n=46), insulin-stimulating therapies such as incretin mimetics, meglitinides or oral sulfonylureas, (n=13) or insulin-independent therapies such as dietary changes, thiazolidinediones or biguanides (n=73).
“The current hot topic is whether incretin mimetics increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer,” researcher David T. Chao, MD, a medical resident at the University of Pittsburgh, told Healio.com. “Based on our research data, we don’t believe that there’s an increased risk for patients who are put on these classes of medications.”
Regardless of treatment or diabetes status, participants had similar mean ages at adenocarcinoma diagnosis — 65.5 years for nondiabetic patients and 69 years for recipients of insulin alone.
In each treatment group, mean age at adenocarcinoma diagnosis was similar regardless of the time between diabetes and adenocarcinoma diagnoses (P=.11 for insulin-only, P=.7 for insulin-stimulating and P=.36 among insulin-independent therapies). Mean age also was similar across groups at less than 1 year (P=.7), between 1 and 5 years (P=.41) and at more than 6 years (P=.34) between diabetes and adenocarcinoma diagnoses.
The researchers concluded that insulin-stimulating medications such as incretin mimetics did not appear to accelerate pancreatic adenocarcinoma development, but said further study is necessary.
“Short-term incretin mimetics have only been around for less than 10 years, and clinical studies have shown that pancreatic cancer will actually develop over 18 years, so I think we have to look at the long-term impact,” Chao said. “We won’t negate the possibility that incretin mimetics may lead to pancreatic disease, but at least in the short term, we can’t make any associations. Longer-term studies are needed.”
Disclosure: Researcher Randall Brand, MD, is a board member for Asuragen and reported grant/research support from Asuragen, Nichols Institute, Quest Diagnostics and SomaLogic. Researcher Herbert Zeh, MD, disclosed a relationship with Medtronic.
Chao DT. Mo1424: Effect of Anti-Diabetic Medications on the Presentation of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma in Diabetic Patients. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week 2013; May 18-21, Orlando, Fla.
From www.healio.com/
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