Diabetes Mellitus and Prostate Cancer Risk in Asian Countries: a Meta-analysis

Xiang-Ju Long,Ya-Nan Sun,Zhen-Feng Zheng,Shan Lin

doi:10.7314/apjcp.2012.13.8.4097

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is widely considered to be associated with risk of cancer, but studies investigating the association between DM and prostate cancer in Asian countries have reported inconsistent findings. We examined this association by conducting a detailed meta-analysis of studies published on the subject. Cohort or case-control studies were identified by searching Pubmed, Embase and Wanfang databases through May 30, 2012. Pooled relative risk (RR) with its corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated using the random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed by the study type. Finally, we identified 7 studies (four cohort studies and three case-control studies) with a total of 1,751,274 subjects from Asians. DM was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in Asians (unadjusted RR= 2.82, 95% CI 1.73-4.58, P < 0.001; adjusted RR= 1.31, 95% CI 1.12-1.54, P = 0.001). Subgroup analyses by study design further confirmed an obvious association. Findings from this meta-analysis strongly support that diabetes is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in Asians.

Highlights

Diabetes mellitus (DM) and cancer are two common severe chronic diseases that lead to many deaths (Jemal et al, 2011; Nolan et al, 2011)
The present meta-analysis findings provide strong evidence that DM is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in Asians, which was based on the large amount of published data giving greater information to detect significant differences
Meta-analyses showed that people with diabetes had a significant increase in risk of developing prostate cancer under both unadjusted estimates and adjusted estimates (RR unadjusted =2.82; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.73–4.58; relative risk (RR) adjusted = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.12–1.54)

Summary

Introduction

Diabetes mellitus (DM) and cancer are two common severe chronic diseases that lead to many deaths (Jemal et al, 2011; Nolan et al, 2011). A common cause of cancer mortality in men, is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies (Jemal et al.,2011). Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer, and the third most common cause of death from cancer in men (Damber and Aus, 2008). In contrast with various other malignancies, published data obtained from population-based studies indicate that the risk of prostate cancer may have an inverse relationship with DM (Bonovas et al, 2004; Kasper and Giovannucci, 2006)

Methods

Results

Conclusion