Diabetes drugs do not lead to pancreatic cancer

Use of incretin-based drugs like GLP-1 analogs and DPP-4 inhibitors for the treatment of diabetes does not increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. That is shown in a case-control study by consultant Reimar Thomsen and colleagues from Department of Clinical Epidemiology. The dugs have been under suspicion for increasing the risk of pancreatic cancer but such an association has not been proved.

The study included 6,000 patients with pancreatic cancer who were compared to a control group. Researchers found that diabetics had an increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared to the general population, but that this was irrespective of type of treatment. This indicates that the diabetes itself increases the risk of pancreatic cancer and not the medication.

Reimar recently presented the results at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), which was held in Stockholm. The results have also been mentioned in an article in Dagens Medicin.