994-P: Prevalence and Persistence of Post-diagnosis Hyperglycemia in Cancer Patients

Introduction: Cancer patients are more likely to develop hyperglycemia (HG) compared to cancer-free adults, and this increased risk is highest in the year following cancer diagnosis. The persistence of post-diagnosis HG and degree of glycemic control in this population is unclear.

Methods: This study utilized data from n=9,588 cancer patients from the Huntsman Cancer Institute, UT. Clinicodemographic characteristics, biomarkers, and cancer diagnoses were extracted from electronic medical records (EMR) and tumor registry. Patients with a new HG diagnosis (ICD) of any kind between 30 days and 1 year after cancer diagnosis were included. Persistence of HG was determined through elevated Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and/or new anti-HG medication prescription. Patients who did not survive >1 year after cancer diagnosis or were diagnosed with cancer <1 year prior to EMR abstraction were excluded.

Results: Of the 2,964 (30.9%) cancer patients with a HG diagnosis after cancer, 26.2% (n=777) were diagnosed with HG between 30 days and 1 year after cancer diagnosis, of these n=357 met criteria for HG evaluation. Data on HbA1c and/or anti-HG medication >1 but <2 years post-cancer diagnosis was available for 109 patients. Of these, 60 (55.0%) received a new anti-HG medication prescription and an additional 30 (27.5%) had an HbA1c greater than 5.7%, indicative of HG. Interestingly, body mass index (BMI) was similar among those that did and did not receive anti-HG medication (32.0 ± 6.4 vs. 32.6 ± 7.8 kg/m², respectively), suggesting an alternate mechanism for lack of glycemic control.

Discussion: Taken together, 82.5% of patients diagnosed with HG in the year following a cancer diagnosis still presented with HG between one and two years post-cancer diagnosis, and there was no difference by BMI among those that did and did not receive anti-HG medications. This suggests that HG post-cancer diagnosis is not a transient effect of cancer therapy (e.g., corticosteroids), and may have long-term health implications in cancer survivors.