Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Prognosis and Survival

Introduction Pancreatic adenocarcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are inter-related. The outcomes of this association were the topic of interest of a lot of prior research in this field. The primary objective of this research is the identification of the survival rate and mortality difference between patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and T2DM and those without. Methods A retrospective observational study included 83 patients who were diagnosed and managed between 2005 and 2015 at Princess Noorah Oncology Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah. Patients with T2DM who were older than 18 years old and were diagnosed later with pancreatic adenocarcinoma were included. Results Out of 83 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, 86.75% (n=72) had T2DM at the time of diagnosis. The median age at diagnosis was significantly higher than in patients without T2DM (p=0.003). The overall survival was not affected by T2DM (p=0.289). However, hypertension had a significant impact on survival rate regardless of the presence of T2DM (OR, 3.47 (95% CI: 1.09-10.98)). Conclusion Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and T2DM were mostly women and aged around 60. T2DM did not have a significant effect on tumor profile. T2DM did not significantly affect survival, although other comorbidities, such as hypertension, did.