Comparison between sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors on the risk of incident cancer in patients with diabetes mellitus: A real-world evidence study

Aims

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT-2is) have been demonstrated to be associated with cancer cell mechanisms. However, whether they increase the risk of cancer remains unclear. Thus, this study aimed to determine the association between SGLT-2i use and the incidence of cancer in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Taiwan.

Materials and Methods

This retrospective cohort study was based on the Taiwan National Health Insurance database. The study population comprised patients with DM, and those who first used SGLT-2is during 2016–2018 were assigned to the study group. Greedy propensity score matching was performed to select patients who first used dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors (DPP-4is), and these patients were assigned to the control group. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for cancer risk in the study and control groups; this model was adjusted for demographic characteristics, DM severity, comorbidities and concomitant medication use.

Results

After controlling for relevant variables, the SGLT-2i cohort (aHR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.87–0.93) had a significantly lower risk of developing cancer than the DPP-4i cohort, particularly when the SGLT-2i was dapagliflozin (aHR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.87–0.95) or empagliflozin (aHR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.86–0.94). Regarding cancer type, the SGLT-2i cohort's risk of cancer was significantly lower than that of the DPP-4i cohort for leukaemia, oesophageal, colorectal, liver, pancreatic, lung, skin and bladder cancer.

Conclusions

SGLT-2i use was associated with a significantly lower risk of cancer than DPP-4i use.