Use of incretin agents and risk of pancreatic cancer: a population‐based cohort study

Abstract

We found that incretin use was not associated with pancreatic cancer after adjustment for the severity of the underlying Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). The elevated risk of pancreatic cancer in those recently initiating incretin agents is likely to be caused by protopathic bias or other types of unknown distortion. The presence of considerable confounding by disease severity and the lack of a duration-of-use relationship do not support a causal explanation for the association between incretin agents and pancreatic cancer.

Incretin based drugs and the risk of pancreatic cancer: international multicentre cohort study

“…[12][13][14][15][16][17] Overall, most of these studies did not report statistically significant associations. 12-15 17 One study reported an overall increased risk with sitagliptin (hazard ratio 1.40, 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 1.75), but with no clear dose-response relation.…”

“…[12][13][14][15][16][17] These studies have, however, provided conflicting results and several had methodological shortcomings. 18 Given this controversy, regulatory agencies have called for additional studies of this potential association.…”

Pancreatic safety of vildagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A European, noninterventional, postauthorization safety study

“…A meta‐analysis of RCTs and various large noninterventional studies did not show an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in association with DPP‐4 inhibitors.…”

Comparability of the age and sex distribution of the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and the total Dutch population

“…The United Kingdom (UK) Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) is one of the world's largest primary care databases and is frequently used for post‐authorisation safety studies, pharmaco‐epidemiology, and disease epidemiology . Examples include the evaluation of side effects of dopamine agonists or diabetes drugs, and the epidemiology of fractures…”