In a nutshell
The authors determined whether hormone therapy increased the risk of diabetes in localized (confined to the prostate) prostate cancer.
Some background
Hormone therapy is a common treatment in prostate cancer. It targets the male sex hormones active in prostate cancer, such as testosterone. Further studies are required to determine whether patients treated with hormone therapy have an increased risk of diabetes.
Methods & findings
The authors aimed to determine whether hormone therapy increased the risk of diabetes.
12,191 patients with localized prostate cancer were analyzed in this study with an average follow-up time of 4.2 years. 22% of patients received primary hormone therapy (within 1 year after diagnosis) for an average of 357 days.
9.9% of patients were diagnosed with diabetes. 2.5% of patients treated with hormone therapy and 1.6% of patients not treated with hormone therapy were at a risk of developing diabetes in 1 year. Overall, patients treated with hormone therapy had a 61% increased risk of diabetes compared to patients who did not receive primary hormone therapy.
Patients treated with hormone therapy more than 12 months after diagnosis had a 79% increased risk of diabetes. Patients with high blood pressure had a 61% increased risk of diabetes. Patients who were obese had over double the risk (2.10) of experiencing diabetes. Patients 70 years of age or less had over double the risk (2.25) of experiencing diabetes. This was compared to patients over 70 years of age, who had a 40% increased risk of diabetes.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that primary hormone treatment can increase the risk of diabetes by 60% in patients and should be used with caution in localized prostate cancer.
What’s next?
If you are considering hormone therapy please consult your doctor for more information on the occurrence of diabetes as a treatment side-effect.
Published By :
Journal of Urology
Date :
Dec 15, 2014
