Association between androgen-deprivation therapy and incidence of diabetes among males with prostate cancer

OBJECTIVES Previous research has documented an increase in metabolic syndrome among patients who use androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). Given that metabolic syndrome is related to diabetes, this research examined whether use of ADT was associated with an increase in the incidence of diabetes. METHODS A retrospective, claims database was used to compare men diagnosed with prostate cancer who received ADT (N = 1231) with men diagnosed with prostate cancer who did not receive ADT (N = 7250). Unjustified comparisons among the cohorts were examined using chi-square statistics for categorical variables and t-statistics for continuous variables. A multivariate logistic regression was estimated to examine the association between receipt of ADT and the incidence of diabetes, while controlling for a wide range of factors that also potentially affect the probability of being newly diagnosed with diabetes. RESULTS Descriptive statistics revealed that the patients who initiated ADT were significantly older (P <0.01), in poorer health (P <0.01), and more likely to have a prior diagnosis of hypertension (P = 0.04). Results from the multivariate regression indicate that for men diagnosed with prostate cancer, demographic characteristics, comorbid conditions, prior statin use, and receipt of ADT all affect the probability of incident diabetes. While controlling for other factors, the estimated relative risk of incident diabetes associated with the receipt of ADT was 1.36 (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Results from this study suggest that among prostate cancer patients, those initiating ADT are more likely to develop incident diabetes within 1 year. This finding supports previous research that established the relationship between ADT and metabolic syndrome.