Compared with their nondiabetic counterparts , cancer patients with preexisting diabetes are ∼50 % more likely to die after surgery .
OBJECTIVE Diabetes appears to increase risk for some cancers , but the association between preexisting diabetes and  postoperative mortality in cancer patients is less clear .
Our objective was to systematic ally review postoperative mortality in cancer patients with and without preexisting diabetes and summarize results using meta- analysis .
Early complications in surgical treatment of lung cancer: a prospective, multicenter study. Grupo Cooperativo de Carcinoma Broncogénico de la Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica.
BACKGROUND We prospect ively analyzed the postoperative morbidity , mortality rate , and risk factors in 605 patients who underwent thoracotomy for bronchogenic carcinoma . METHODS Patients were categorized by postsurgical tumor stage : I , 287 patients ( 47.4 % ) ; II , 49 patients ( 8.1 % ) ; IIIA , 154 patients ( 25.5 % ) ; IIIB , 80 patients ( 13.2 % ) ; IV , 16 patients ( 2.7 % ) ; unavailable , 19 patients ( 3.1 % ) . Two hundred ninety-four patients ( 48.6 % ) underwent lobectomy  , 172 ( 28.4 % )  pneumonectomy  , 20 ( 3.3 % ) bilobectomy , 29 ( 4.8 % ) segmentectomy , 27 ( 4.5 % ) wedge resection , and 63 ( 10.4 % ) exploratory thoracotomy . The importance of the factors that influence the morbidity and mortality rates was calculated from their relative risks . Univariate and multivariate methods for a logistic regression model were used for this analysis . RESULTS Postoperative complications developed in 196 patients ( 32.4 % ) ; there were 165 ( 27.3 % ) cases of operation-related complications and 152 ( 25.1 % ) cases of respiratory and cardiovascular complications . The morbidity rate was highest in patients with preexisting vascular disease ( 50.9 % ; odds ratio [ OR ] , 2.20 ) or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus ( 52.4 % ; OR , 2.77 ) and in patients who underwent pneumonectomy ( 40.1 % ; OR , 1.82 ) . Forty patients ( 6.6 % ) died postoperatively , most commonly of respiratory failure ( 67.5 % ) . The mortality rate was highest in patients with postoperative morbidity ( OR , 31.9 ) or vascular disease ( 15.8 % ; OR , 2.83 ) and in patients who underwent pneumonectomy ( 13.4 % ; OR , 4.9 ) . CONCLUSIONS Postoperative complications are more likely to develop in patients with peripheral vascular disease or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus , or both . Postoperative mortality was found to be significantly higher in patients with vascular disease and those who underwent pneumonectomy
Compared with their nondiabetic counterparts , cancer patients with preexisting diabetes are ∼50 % more likely to die after surgery .
OBJECTIVE Diabetes appears to increase risk for some cancers , but the association between preexisting diabetes and  postoperative mortality in cancer patients is less clear .
Our objective was to systematic ally review postoperative mortality in cancer patients with and without preexisting diabetes and summarize results using meta- analysis .