Mortality risk higher for breast cancer patients with type 2 diabetes

Breast cancer patients who also suffer from type 2 diabetes face a higher risk of death than those who have this type of cancer but are non-diabetic, according to new research.
The Taiwan-based study involving thousands of Asian patients with newly diagnosed, early-stage breast cancer found that those who had also been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were more likely to die within five years from all causes and of breast cancer.
The results showed that 5-year breast cancer specific survival and overall survival rates were significantly lower in patients with type 2 diabetes, compared to those without the disease (85 per cent versus 91 per cent for breast cancer specific survival and 79 per cent versus 90 per cent for overall survival).
After adjusting for clinicopathologic variables and other related chronic conditions (comorbidities), the researchers discovered that patients with both breast cancer and diabetes were 53 per cent and 71 per cent more likely than those without diabetes to have a shorter survival period.
Wei-Wu Chen of National Taiwan University Hospital and colleagues concluded: “In Asian patients with early-stage breast cancer, diabetes melitus is an independent predictor of lower BCS (breast cancer specific survival) and OS (overall survival) rates, even after adjusting for other comorbidities.
“The integration of diabetes care as part of the continuum of care for early-stage breast cancer should be emphasized.”