Urinary markers of nucleic acid oxidation and cancer in type 2 diabetes

Aims/hypothesis We investigated whether urinary markers of nucleic acid oxidation are associated with an increased risk of cancer in type 2 diabetes patients. Methods Urine samples from 1381 newly diagnosed diabetes patients were assayed for the oxidatively modified guanine nucleosides 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoGuo). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the relationship between the urinary markers and cancer incidence. Results The crude analyses showed an association between overall cancer and urinary excretion of the RNA oxidation marker 8-oxoGuo (unadjusted hazard ratio for cancer per natural log increase in 8-oxoGuo 1.35 [95% CI, 1.01–1.81]), however, in the adjusted analyses, no significant associations between 8-oxodG or 8-oxoGuo and overall cancer were found. For site-specific cancers 8-oxodG was associated with breast cancer in the crude analyses (unadjusted hazard ratio for breast cancer per natural log increase in 8-oxodG was 2.37 [95% CI, 1.07–5.26]), although the association was attenuated in the adjusted analyses (sex- and age-adjusted hazard ratio 2.15 [95% CI, 0.92–5.02] and multivariate adjusted hazard ratio1.98 [95% CI, 0.95–4.10]). Conclusions Urinary excretion of the nucleic acid oxidation markers 8-oxodG and 8-oxoGuo at the time of diagnosis was not associated with cancer overall in type 2 diabetes patients. For site-specific cancers, risk elevations were seen for breast cancer (8-oxodG). These findings should be examined in future and larger studies.