Effects of early medication treatment and metformin use for cancer prevention in diabetes patients: a nationwide sample cohort study in Korea using extended landmark time analysis

Epidemiology and Health

Hyun Sook Oh¹  Hwa Jeong Seo² 

[1] Department of Applied Statistics, School of Social Science, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea;Medical Informatics and health Technology (MIT), Department of Health Care Management, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea;

关键词: type 2 diabetes mellitus;    anticancer agents;    medication compliance;    metformin;    drug prescription;   

DOI  :  10.4178/epih.e2021103

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

OBJECTIVES This study investigated the effectiveness of early medication treatment and metformin use for cancer prevention in type 2 diabetes patients. METHODS Population-based cohort data were used from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database (KNHIS-NSC) for 2002–2013. Patient-specific medication prescription status was defined by the landmark time (LMT; a fixed time after cohort entry), considering both pre- and post-LMT prescriptions to control methodological biases in observational research. The LMT was set to 2 years. Logistic regression analysis with multivariable adjustment was conducted to analyze cancer incidence by patient-specific medication prescription status. RESULTS Only 33.4% of the subjects were prescribed medication early (before the LMT) with compliance. Cancer incidence in individuals with early prescription and compliance was 25% lower (odds ratio [OR], 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67 to 0.84) than in those without. As early-prescribed medications, metformin monotherapy and metformin combination therapy were associated with 34% (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.83) and 25% (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.64 to 0.88) lower cancer risk than non-use, respectively. Patients who were prescribed late (post-LMT) but did not comply with the prescription had a 24% (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.58) higher cancer incidence than non-users. Among patients who started monotherapy early without changes throughout the entire follow-up period, those who started on metformin had a 37% (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.41 to 0.99) lower risk of cancer than non-metformin users. CONCLUSIONS Doctors must prescribe antidiabetic medication early, and patient compliance is required, regardless of the prescription time, to prevent cancer. Metformin monotherapy or combination therapy is recommended as an early prescription.

【 授权许可】

Unknown