Diabetes and cancer co-management: patient-reported challenges, needs, and priorities

Twenty percent of breast cancer survivors have co-occurring diabetes and face a 50% greater risk of 10-year mortality compared to survivors without diabetes. Individuals with cancer are often overwhelmed during cancer treatment and have less time for their diabetes, contributing to worse outcomes. We elicited perspectives of breast cancer survivors with diabetes regarding their specific needs for diabetes and cancer co-management.

We conducted semi-structured interviews with women with breast cancer aged 40 + years at three New York City hospitals from May 2021 to March 2022. Eligible participants had type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes. Interviews were audio-recorded, professionally transcribed, and coded by two independent reviewers.

We conducted interviews with 15 females with breast cancer of mean age 61.5 years (SD 7.2); 70% were Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander, and 20% had only a high school education. Most (73%) patients were insured by Medicaid or Medicare, and 73% underwent chemotherapy as part of their cancer care. Of the 15 participants, 60% reported that their glucose levels were of control during cancer treatment and nearly 50% reported glucose levels > 200 mg/dL. We identified distinct themes that reflect patient-reported challenges (worse glucose control after initiation of cancer treatment, lack of information on co-managing diabetes, negative psychosocial effects, burden of diabetes management during cancer care) and needs/priorities (designated provider to help, educational resources specific to diabetes and cancer, and individualized care plans).

Patients co-managing diabetes and cancer face challenges and have unmet needs that should be addressed to improve diabetes control during cancer treatment. Our findings can directly inform interventions aimed at improving glucose control in this population.