Influence of the duration of type 2 diabetes mellitus on colorectal cancer outcomes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive disease, which affects colorectal cancer (CRC) survival. However, data on the relationship between CRC survival and T2DM duration is scarce and controversial. A retrospective observational study was conducted. Sub-cohorts were created based on the duration of T2DM as follows, & LE; or > 5/10/15/20 years. 204 of the 817 (24.95%) included study participants had T2DM at any point of CRC. 160 of the 204 CRC + T2DM patients had detailed T2DM duration data. At the time of CRC diagnosis, 85, 50, 31, and 11 patients had T2DM for > 5/10/15/20 years, respectively, which increased to 110, 71, 45, and 17 during the course of the study. Despite constant glycated hemoglobin values throughout the study, shorter overall and disease-specific survival times were observed for the > 5/10/15 years cohorts and longitudinal survival modeling techniques confirmed the significant effect of T2DM duration in all cohorts. While in the first 3 years after CRC diagnosis, the best survival was found for the & LE; 5 years cohort, all diabetes cohorts had the same survival thereafter. T2DM duration affected CRC survival significantly, therefore, a closer follow-up of this sub-populations is suggested.

Automated summary

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a progressive disease that affects colorectal cancer survival. However, there is limited and controversial data on the relationship between CRC survival and T2DM duration. This retrospective observational study highlights the significant impact of T2DM duration on CRC survival, emphasizing the need for closer follow-up for this subgroup.