Diabetes outcomes in patients with a history of breast cancer

8 Background: While diabetes is known to worsen breast cancer (BC) outcomes, little is known about the effect of BC on diabetes outcomes. This study examined differences in outcomes diabetic patients with and without a history of BC. Methods: Data from NHANES 2010 – 2016 was used to identify female patients self-reporting diabetes mellitus (DM). Comparisons of DM outcomes for persons reporting a history of BC versus without any cancer were made using Chi-Square and separate analyses were conducted for younger (less than 65) and older (65 and older) respondents. Analyses were conducted using SAS survey procedures (Cary, NC) and were weighted to account for the sampling scheme. Results: The analytic cohort consisted of 1347 patients, of which 80 (6.3%, weighted) reported a history of breast cancer. 785 (62.4%, weighted) of the full sample was under age 65. Of those under 65, 3% (weighted) reported history of BC and 11.8% (weighted) of those over 65% reported BC. In diabetics under 65, respondents with BC were more likely to report physical limitations keep them from working and physical, mental, and emotional limitations (p = .001, and p = 0.03, respectively) and were less likely to use insulin (p = .01) than respondents without BC. In respondents 65 and older, women with BC were more likely to report problems with memory and confusion (p = .002) and less likely to rate their general health as excellent or very good (p = .01) compared to those without BC. No differences were found for demographic characteristics, retinopathy, heart disease, or stroke for either age group. Conclusions: In this population of patients with diabetes, history of BC was associated with physical and emotional limitations in younger patients and general health status and memory and confusion in older patients. Understanding the intersection of multiple chronic conditions is important for improving quality of life and clinical outcomes in BC survivors.