Share:
Less cancer risks through improved therapy
It has long been known that Type 2 diabetes is at increased risk for cancer. There is also evidence that certain diabetes medications may increase the risk of developing cancer. However, Austrian scientists have been able to show that such risks can be eliminated through personalized therapy.
Complex relationships between diabetes and cancer
The links between type 2 diabetes and cancer are complex. For one thing, people who have diabetes mellitus are generally at an increased risk of developing cancer. For example, US researchers recently reported that obesity and type 2 diabetes increase the risk of liver cancer. On the other hand, some diabetes medications are suspected to increase the risk, for example, of bladder cancer.
Patients with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for cancer. Even some diabetes medications increase the risk of cancer. Personalized therapy can reduce these risks. (Image: zlikovec / fotolia.com) Common risk factors
However, scientists at the MedUni Vienna have now shown that these risks can now be virtually eliminated with optimized, personalized therapy.
Alexandra Kautzky-Willer, Gender Medicine and Diabetes Expert at the MedUni Vienna, said in a statement from the university, "Cancer and diabetes have common risk factors such as being overweight, smoking, eating habits, lack of exercise, insulin resistance, inflammatory and hormonal changes, and worse high blood sugar levels increase cancer risk. "
Switch off risk through targeted measures of precision medicine
The study of the Austrian researchers shows that targeted measures of precision medicine can eliminate the risk.
And also, that concomitant treatment with statins (which are mainly used in lipid metabolism disorders as cholesterol-lowering) is even associated with a reduced risk of cancer.
For the study, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, 1.85 million Austrians who were hospitalized at least once were statistically recorded. Of these, approximately 300,000 had type 2 diabetes. Patients received a total of approximately 300 different combinations of diabetes medications.
Some medications increase the risk of cancer
According to the University's statement, the study found that primarily insulin-raising drugs (sulfonylurea and insulin) displayed significantly increased cancer risk over insulin-inhibiting drugs, especially for pancreatic cancer (pancreas) in men and women, as well as liver cancer in men and female lymphoma in women.
"However, if statins are taken at the same time, this risk is massively reduced to almost zero compared to patients without diabetes," says Kautzky-Willer.
Individual therapy for patients
Peter Klimek from the Institute of Complex Systems Science added: "This shows that individual therapy can be optimized in such a way that the general cancer risk for diabetes patients can be significantly reduced. Today we have a large selection of drugs and possible combination therapies in precision medicine that make this possible. "
Earlier studies have shown that personalized therapies are for the benefit of patients. For example, the Pancreas Center of the University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) reported last year that individual treatment improves the chances of a cure for pancreatic cancer. (Ad)