Impact of diabetes mellitus on postoperative outcomes in individuals with non-small-cell lung cancer: A retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES: Studies showing that individuals with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and diabetes mellitus (DM) have reported poor outcomes after pulmonary resection with varying results. Therefore, we investigated the clinical impact of preoperative DM on postoperative morbidity and survival in individuals with resectable NSCLC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of individuals who underwent pulmonary resection for NSCLC from 2000 to 2015 were extracted from the database of Kyoto University Hospital. The primary endpoint was the incidence of postoperative complications, and secondary endpoints were postoperative length of hospital stay and overall survival. The survival rate was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. RESULTS: A total of 2,219 patients were eligible for the study. The median age of participants was 67 years. Among them, 39.5% were women, and 259 (11.7%) presented with DM. The effect of DM on the incidence of postoperative complications and postoperative length of hospital stay was not significant. Although the 5-year survival rates were similar in both patients with and without DM (80.2% versus 79.4%; p = 0.158), those with DM who had a hemoglobin A1c level ≥ 8.0% had the worst survival. CONCLUSIONS: In individuals with resectable NSCLC, preoperative DM does not influence the acute phase postoperative recovery. However, poorly controlled preoperative DM could lead to low postoperative survival rates.