TUESDAY, Oct. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Men with diabetes who undergo radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer are more likely to die from any cause than men without diabetes, according to research presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meeting in Denver.
Khanh Nguyen, M.D., of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, and colleagues studied 1,512 prostate cancer patients, including 206 with diabetes and 1,306 with no history of diabetes.
The investigators found that 47 (22.8%) of the men with diabetes died from any cause compared to 250 (19.1%) of the men without diabetes. Despite previous research suggesting that insulin may affect prostate cancer growth, the researchers report that diabetes had no significant effect on prostate cancer aggressiveness.
The researchers suggested that diabetes alone may have been responsible for the patients' increased mortality. "Aggressive management of diabetes with diet, exercise and medications may improve the survival of cancer patients," Nguyen stated.
