Abstract
Evidence on acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist [GLP-1RA] and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor [DPP-4i] therapy is mixed and no studies examined this risk directly across all commonly used classes of type 2 diabetes (T2D) medications, particularly sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and sulfonylureas.
De-identified claims data from OptumLabs Data Warehouse and fee-for-service Medicare were used to emulate a target trial examining the risks of incident acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer among adults with T2D and moderate cardiovascular risk. Propensity scores (estimated using the SuperLearner ensemble method) and inverse probability of treatment weighting emulated random treatment assignment to GLP-1RA, DPP-4i, SGLT2i, or sulfonylurea.
The weighted study cohort included 388,262 patients starting GLP-1RA (N=44,084), DPP-4i (N=82,079), SGLT2i (N=56,463), or a sulfonylurea (N=205,636). SGLT2i was associated with lower risk of acute pancreatitis compared to DPP-4i (HR 0.82; 95% CI 0.68-0.98). Conversely, sulfonylurea was associated with higher risk compared to GLP-1RA (HR 1.28; 95% CI 1.03-1.56) and SGLT2i (HR 1.32; 95% CI 1.12-1.57). There was no difference in acute pancreatitis risk between GLP-1RA and DPP-4i or GLP-1RA and SGLT2i. The risk of pancreatic cancer was lower with GLP-1RA compared to DPP-4i (HR 0.56; 95% CI 0.40-0.77). In contrast, risk was higher with SGLT2i and sulfonylurea compared to GLP-1RA (HR 1.67; 95% CI 1.12-2.49 and HR 1.60; 95% CI 1.17-2.19, respectively).
GLP-1RA and DPP-4i therapy was not associated with increased risk of adverse pancreatic events. The lower risk of acute pancreatitis with SGLT2i therapy warrants further exploration.