"Diabetes Patients with Severe Abdominal Obesity Have Increased Risk of Developing 'Neuroglioma'"

Severe Abdominal Obesity Increases Risk of Glioma by Up to 37% Compared to Normal, Study by Professor Eunhee Ko's Team at Seoul Asan Medical Center

A study has found that the more severe abdominal obesity in diabetic patients, the higher the incidence of glioma, a type of malignant brain tumor.

Professors Eunhee Ko and Yoonkyung Cho from the Department of Endocrinology at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, and Professor Kyungdo Han from the Department of Information Statistics and Actuarial Science at Soongsil University (from left).

Professors Eunhee Ko and Yoonkyung Cho from the Department of Endocrinology at Seoul Asan Medical Center, along with Professor Kyungdo Han from the Department of Information Statistics and Actuarial Science at Soongsil University, analyzed data tracking 1.89 million diabetic patients aged 20 and over for up to 10 years and confirmed these findings on the 10th.

Abdominal obesity is defined as a waist circumference of 90 cm or more for men and 85 cm or more for women. As of 2019, the abdominal obesity rate among Korean adults was about 24%, while it was about 63% among diabetic patients, approximately 2.6 times higher. Glioma, a malignant brain tumor, often shows no specific symptoms in the early stages and is usually detected late, resulting in a poor prognosis with a 2-year survival rate of about 26%.

To analyze the association between abdominal obesity and glioma, the research team tracked 1.89 million diabetic patients who underwent health checkups between 2009 and 2012 for up to 10 years. Among them, 1,846 patients developed glioma between 2009 and 2018. The team divided diabetic patients into six groups based on waist circumference in 5 cm increments, from Group 1 (men under 80 cm, women under 75 cm) to Group 6 (men 100 cm or more, women 95 cm or more).

After adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), duration of diabetes, and insulin use, the analysis showed that compared to Group 1, the incidence of glioma increased as waist circumference increased. In particular, Group 5 showed a 32% increase, and Group 6 showed a 37% increase. Additionally, among diabetic patients under 65 years old, the increase in glioma incidence due to abdominal obesity was 16% higher than that in elderly patients aged 65 and over.

Professor Eunhee Ko stated, "This study is significant in revealing the correlation between abdominal obesity and glioma incidence in a large-scale diabetic patient population." She added, "Although the exact cause of glioma is unknown, it appears that fat cells induce inflammatory responses in the body, increasing the risk of glioma." She further emphasized, "It is important for diabetic patients to consistently exercise, such as walking for 30 minutes daily, to prevent abdominal obesity."

This research was recently published in the international journal 'PLoS One (IF 3.752)'.

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