Lung Cancer Risk Lower in Diabetics Taking Thiazolidinediones

Use of thiazolidinediones (glitazones) is associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer in diabetic patients, according to a new report. Dr. Rangaswamy Govindarajan from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, stated that, "This is preliminary observational work which is retrospective in nature." "Physicians should be cautioned not to start using these agents for cancer prevention."

Dr. Govindarajan and colleagues investigated the effect of thiazolidinediones on the risk of lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer in male veterans diabetics aged 40 years and older with diabetes, using a database covering 10 Veterans Affairs medical centers.

Among 87,678 individuals identified, there were 1137 cases of colorectal cancer, 3246 cases of prostate cancer and 1371 cases of lung cancer.

After adjusting for all other risk factors, patients who were prescribed thiazolidinediones had a 33% lower risk of lung cancer than patients who were not prescribed thiazolidinediones, the researchers report.

There were statistically nonsignificant trends toward reduced risk of prostate and colorectal cancer with thiazolidinedione use, the report indicates.

The lung cancer risk reduction associated with thiazolidinedione use was much greater among African American men (a 62% reduction) than among white men (26%), the researchers note. Similar subgroup analyses yielded inconsistent results for prostate and colorectal cancer.

"We are still in the process of designing further studies," Dr. Govindarajan said.

J Clin Oncol 2007;25:1476-1481.

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FACT:

Medicare Fund Will Be Exhausted in 2019:. The U.S. Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund will exhaust its assets in 2019 instead of the 2018 date forecast last year due to bigger payroll tax collections, a report from the fund’s trustees. The Social Security trust fund also extended its exhaustion date by a year to 2041. Despite the slight improvement reported by the trustees, the Bush administration said the two popular programs for the elderly needed urgent reform. "Without change, rising costs will drive government spending to unprecedented levels, consume nearly all projected federal revenues and threaten America’s future prosperity," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a statement. The Medicare report raised a "funding warning" that is meant to trigger congressional debate over trimming costs of the health care program, which faces huge strains from rapidly rising costs and the aging baby boom generation. The trustees projected Social Security outlays to outstrip tax income in 2017, the same date as forecast last year. Paulson said time was of the essence for lawmakers to address the projected funding shortfall for the two programs. "The longer we delay, the larger the required adjustments will be — and the burden of making those adjustments will fall more heavily on future generations," he said.