Prostate cancer genetic propensity risk score may modify the association between this tumour and type 2 diabetes mellitus (MCC-Spain study)

Background Some studies have reported an inverse association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and prostate cancer (PCa), but results on this issue are still inconsistent. In this study, we evaluate whether this heterogeneity might be related to differences in this relationship by tumour or by individual genetic susceptibility to PCa. Methods We studied 1047 incident PCa cases and 1379 randomly selected controls, recruited in 7 Spanish provinces for the population-based MCC-Spain case-control. Tumour were classified by aggressiveness according to the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP), and we constructed a PCa polygenic risk score (PRS) as proxy for genetic susceptibility. The epidemiological questionnaire collected detailed self-reported data on T2DM diagnosis and treatment. The association between T2DM status and PCa was studied by fitting mixed logistic regression models, and, for its association by aggressiveness of PCa, with multinomial logistic regression models. To evaluate the possible modulator role of PRS in this relationship, we included the corresponding interaction term in the model, and repeated the analysis stratified by PRS tertiles. Results Globally, our results showed an inverse association between T2DM and overall PCa limited to grade 1 tumours (ORISUP = 1: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.53-0.98), which could be compatible with a detection bias. However, PCa risk also varied with duration of diabetes treatment -inversely to metformin and positively with insulin-, without differences by aggressiveness. When we considered genetic susceptibility, T2DM was more strongly associated with lower PCa risk in those with lower PRS (ORtertile 1: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.11-0.87), independently of ISUP grade. Conclusions Our findings reinforce the need to include aggressiveness and susceptibility of PCa, and T2DM treatments in the study of the relationship between both diseases.

Automated summary

The study found an inverse association between T2DM and overall PCa, especially in grade 1 tumors. PCa risk was also found to vary with the duration of diabetes treatment, with different associations for metformin and insulin. When considering genetic susceptibility, T2DM was more strongly associated with lower PCa risk in individuals with lower PRS. These findings highlight the importance of considering aggressiveness and susceptibility of PCa, as well as T2DM treatments, in studying the relationship between these diseases.