Association of Diabetes and Cancers: An analysis of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample (HCUP-NIS) 2005-2015 Dataset

Background There is a growing body of evidence on the relationship between diabetes and cancer. However, the literature is limited and inconclusive about whether diabetes is associated with an increased or decreased risk of developing each cancer. Method In this retrospective cohort study, 44,262,443 patients aged ≥ 50 years who were discharged from community hospitals between 2005–2015 were obtained from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project - Nationwide Inpatient Sample (HCUP-NIS) database. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to study the association between diabetes and the 33 selected cancers. Results The prevalences of diabetes and cancer were 29.48 and 20.57%, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity, the odds of association between selected cancers and diabetes represented diabetes as a protective factor for cancer, except for pancreatic cancer (OR [odds ratio]: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.21) and liver and intrahepatic cancers (OR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.40, 1.43). Conclusion Using a large amount of individualized data, this study implied the likelihood of a protective role of diabetes in most of the 33 selected cancers. Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms linking diabetes with cancer development or progression.