New-onset type ii diabetes mellitus in early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer: literature review

Abstract

The literature data on the connection between type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and pancreatic cancer (PC) were analyzed. Early detection of pancreatic cancer remains an unsolved problem of oncology because of absence of pathognomonic symptoms for this disease at the early stages, difficulties in visualizing changes in the pancreas as well as difficulties in differential diagnosis with benign tumors. Fifty nine articles in Russian and English were studied, and the data presented in literature regarding the connection between type 2 diabetes mellitus and early stages of pancreaticic cancer have been analyzed.Resectable pancreatic cancer makes up less than 15 % of the cases during initial medical examination. Currently, the existing methods of diagnostics do not allow solving the problem of early detection of pancreatic cancer it dictates the need to search for a new marker that will improve the early diagnosis of this tumor. According to the results of many studies, there has been detected a connection between the new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus and early stages of pancreatic cancer. Based on the data published by a number of authors, manifestation of the new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients over fifty (fasting blood glucose level 7 mmol/L, or a blood glucose sugar level 11,1 mmol/L after performing oral glucose tolerance test, or random blood glucose level 11,1 mmol/L with a typical hyperglycemia signs and symptoms) can serve as an early symptom of pancreatic cancer.
 Thus, the new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus in persons aged 50 years or older can potentially be used to identify a group of patients requiring a directional examination for the purpose of early detection of pancreatic cancer. Further studies on this problem could allow us to formulate a special program of early diagnostics of pancreatic cancer.