Long-term All-Cause Mortality in Cancer Patients With Preexisting Diabetes Mellitus.

The article presents a systematic review and meta-analysis which compared the long-term mortality in cancer patients with and without preexisting diabetes. The MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched for English-language, original investigations in humans with at least three months of follow-up. The search included articles through May 15, 2008. 48 articles met the criteria. A meta-analysis included studies reporting Cox proportional hazard ratios (HR) and Poisson relative risks. Diabetes was found to be associated with an increased mortality HR according to a random-effects model meta-analysis of 23 articles. Researchers concluded that cancer patients with preexisting diabetes have an increased risk for long-term, all-cause mortality compared with those without diabetes.