Chungbuk National University Reports Findings in Diabetes Mellitus (Metformin Use May Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in Diabetic Women: An Analysis of the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Health Screening Cohort Database): Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases and Conditions – Diabetes Mellitus

2022 OCT 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Business Daily -- New research on Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases and Conditions - Diabetes Mellitus is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Cheongju, South Korea, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “In addition to its antidiabetic effects, metformin has pleiotropic effects, such as the inhibition of carcinogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the association between metformin use and pancreatic cancer risk in the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)-National Health Screening Cohort (HEALS).”

Funders for this research include National Research Foundation of Korea, Ministry of Science and ICT.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Chungbuk National University, “Of the individuals in the Korean NHIS-HEALS, 29,271 men and 19,091 women were included in the final analysis after propensity score matching based on age, body mass index, and smoking status. The study population was categorized into three groups: metformin non-users with diabetes mellitus (DM), metformin users with DM, and non-diabetic users. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to examine the association between metformin use and pancreatic cancer. The median follow-up period was 12.9 years. The estimated pancreatic cancer incidence was highest in metformin users with DM, regardless of sex (P <0.001), and lowest in non-diabetic men and female metformin non-users (P=0.053). The hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for pancreatic cancer incidence in metformin users and non-diabetic individuals were 1.116 (0.648-1.923) and 0.447 (0.259-0.771) in men and 2.769 (1.003-7.642) and 1.451 (0.529-3.984) in women, respectively, after full adjustment. Women with diabetes using metformin are at a higher risk of pancreatic cancer than women with diabetes not using metformin.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Meanwhile, men with DM using metformin have a similar risk of pancreatic cancer as men with DM not using metformin.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Metformin Use May Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in Diabetic Women: An Analysis of the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Health Screening Cohort Database. Korean Journal of Family Medicine, 2022;43(5):327-333.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Yoon-Jong Bae, Dept. of Information & Statistics, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Joungyoun Kim and Hee-Taik Kang.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.22.0005. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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