J Korean Med Sci.  2014 Feb;29(2):238-242. 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.2.238.

Risk of Bladder Cancer among Patients with Diabetes Treated with a 15 mg Pioglitazone Dose in Korea: A Multi-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 2Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. bwanlee@yuhs.ac
  • 3Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
  • 4Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 5Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
  • 6Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Dong-A University Medical Center, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
  • 7Department of Biostatistics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 8Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

It has not yet been determined whether chronic exposure to relatively low doses of pioglitazone increases risk of bladder cancer. We aimed to assess the risk of bladder cancer associated with pioglitazone in Korean patients. This was a retrospective cohort study of diabetic patients who had > or = 2 clinic visits between November 2005 and June 2011 at one of four tertiary referral hospitals in Korea. A prevalent case-control analysis nested within the cohort was conducted to further adjust confounders. A total of 101,953 control patients and 11,240 pioglitazone-treated patients were included, in which there were 237 and 30 cases of incidental bladder cancer (64.9 and 54.9 per 100,000 person-years; age, sex-adjusted HR 1.135, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.769-1.677), respectively. In the prevalent case-control analysis nested within the cohort, use of pioglitazone for a duration of > 6 months, but not ever use of pioglitazone, was associated with an increased rate of bladder cancer as compared to never use of pioglitazone. In conclusion, we failed to exclude the possible association between use of pioglitazone for a duration of > 6 months and bladder cancer.

Keyword

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Pioglitazone; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms; Korea

MeSH Terms

Aged
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Case-Control Studies
Cohort Studies
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications/*drug therapy
Female
Humans
Hypoglycemic Agents/*therapeutic use
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Republic of Korea
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Tertiary Care Centers
Thiazolidinediones/*therapeutic use
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/complications/*diagnosis/epidemiology
Hypoglycemic Agents
Thiazolidinediones

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Sunghwan Suh, Kwang-Won Kim
Diabetes Metab J. 2019;43(6):733-743.    doi: 10.4093/dmj.2019.0177.

Extra-Glycemic Effects of Anti-Diabetic Medications: Two Birds with One Stone?
Eun-Jung Rhee
Endocrinol Metab. 2022;37(3):415-429.    doi: 10.3803/EnM.2022.304.


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