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Increased cancer mortality in type 2 diabetes (ZODIAC-3)
G W D Landman1, L J Ubink-Veltmaat, N Kleefstra
1Diabetes Centre, Isala Clinics, Zwolle, The Netherlands. g.w.d.landman@isala.nl
Background:
It is unclear whether there is a relationship between type two diabetes and cancer mortality. It also is unclear whether obesity and body mass index (BMI) are associated with cancer in type 2 diabetes patients.
Patients And Methods:
In 1998, 1,145 patients with type two diabetes mellitus were enrolled in the Zwolle Outpatient Diabetes project Intergrating Available Care (ZODIAC) study. In this project, general practitioners (GPs) were assisted by hospital-based diabetes specialist nurses. Vital status was assessed in September 2004. The cancer mortality rate was evaluated using standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and its association with BMI (kg/m2) and obesity (>30 kg/m2) with the Cox proportional hazard ratio.
Results:
The median follow-up time was 5.8 years. A total of 335 patients had died, of whom 70 died from malignancy. The SMR for cancer mortality was 1.38 (95% CI 1.07-1.75). BMI and obesity were not associated with cancer death.
Conclusion:
An increased cancer mortality rate was found in type two diabetes mellitus patients but there was no significant association between BMI or obesity and cancer mortality.
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