ArticleDiabetologia2012
Glucose-lowering agents and the patterns of risk for cancer: a study with the General Practice Research Database and secondary care data.
Article in Diabetologia, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association Between Metformin Use and Risk of Lung Cancer in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026 · on this mapPooled it
- Do We Have Enough Evidence That Metformin Is Superior to Other Antidiabetic Drugs in Pancreatic Cancer Risk Reduction?International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of metformin on incidence, recurrence, and mortality in prostate cancer patients: integrating evidence from real-world studies.Prostate cancer and prostatic diseases · 2025Pooled it
- The relationship between the use of metformin and the risk of pancreatic cancer in patients with diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC gastroenterology · 2023 · on this mapPooled it
- Metformin, Asian ethnicity and risk of prostate cancer in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2018 · on this mapPooled it
- Factors influencing the development of primary care data collection projects from electronic health records: a systematic review of the literature.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2017Pooled it
- Metformin and cancer in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and comprehensive bias evaluation.International journal of epidemiology · 2017Pooled it
- Metformin and cancer risk and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis taking into account biases and confounders.Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2014 · on this mapPooled it
- Effect of metformin on cancer risk and treatment outcome of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis of epidemiological observational studies.PloS one · 2014Pooled it
- Use of insulin and insulin analogs and risk of cancer - systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Current drug safety · 2013Pooled it
- Metformin therapy and risk of cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes: systematic review.PloS one · 2013 · on this mapPooled it
- Cancer risk for patients using thiazolidinediones for type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis.The oncologist · 2013Pooled it
- Cancer risk in diabetic patients treated with metformin: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2012Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Antitumor Effects of Metformin in Squamous Cell Carcinoma under Leptin Treatment Conditions.Preventive nutrition and food science · 2025Article
- Therapeutic Potential of Anti-Diabetes Drugs and Anti-Dyslipidemia Drugs to Mitigate Head and Neck Cancer Risk in Metabolic Syndrome.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Review
- Exploring the Role of Hypoxia and HIF-1α in the Intersection of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Endometrial Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Review
- Does metformin really reduce prostate cancer risk: an up-to-date comprehensive genome-wide analysis.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2024Article
- Statin use as a moderator on the association between metformin and breast cancer risk in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Cancer & metabolism · 2024Article
- Cancer Registry Enrichment via Linkage with Hospital-Based Electronic Medical Records: A Pilot Investigation.Journal of registry management · 2024Article
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionRecent studies suggesting an increased cancer risk with glucose-lowering agents have received widespread publicity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the comparability in underlying cancer risk and patterns of cancer risk over time with different glucose-lowering agents.
methodsThe General Practice Research Database (GPRD) was used to identify cohorts of new users. Cancer outcomes were obtained from the GPRD, Hospital Episode Statistics and cancer registries. Relative rates of cancer comparing different glucose-lowering agents were estimated using Poisson regression.
resultsA total of 206,940 patients was identified. There was no difference in cancer risk and quartile for HbA(1c) value. There were differences in cancer incidence in the first 6 months after starting treatment (adjusted relative rate of 0.83 [95% CI 0.70, 0.99] with thiazolidinediones, 1.34 [95% CI 1.19, 1.51] with sulfonylureas and 1.79 [95% CI 1.53, 2.10] with insulin, compared with metformin). Insulin users had decreasing cancer incidence over time (adjusted relative rate of 0.58 [95% CI 0.50, 0.68] during months 6-24, relative rate of 0.50 [95% CI 0.42, 0.59] during months 25-60 and relative rate of 0.48 [95% CI 0.40, 0.59] during months 60+) compared with months 0-6 after starting insulin. Similar patterns were found with sulfonylureas and metformin. There were no increases over time with insulin glargine (A21Gly, B31Arg, B32Arg human insulin; relative rate of 0.70 [95% CI 0.52, 0.95], 0.77 [95% CI 0.56, 1.07] and 0.60 [95% CI 0.36, 1.02], respectively, for 6-24, 25-60 and >60 months).
conclusionsThese findings do not provide evidence of either beneficial or adverse effects of glucose-lowering agents on cancer risk and are consistent with changes in diabetes treatment in the few months prior to the diagnosis of cancer.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.