Comparison of the most important characteristics of diabetes and cancer
| Characteristics | Diabetes mellitus | Cancer |
|---|---|---|
| Prevalence | Epidemic prevalence with an ever-increasing incidence rate | Epidemic prevalence with an ever-increasing incidence rate |
| Classification | 90–95% T2DM (lifestyle-related, mostly in older adults), 5–10% T1DM (probably heritable, juvenile-onset type) | 90–95% sporadic (lifestyle-related, in older adults > 50 years of age), 5–10% genetic (heritable type, in younger age) |
| General feature | Destruction of pancreatic β-cells, decrease in islets mass | Development of malignant cells, formation of neoplasm |
| Description | Chronic lifelong metabolic disease with insulin resistance as a long-term preceding phase for T2DM (often latent) | Chronic metabolic disease with a long latency period (about 10–20 years) before diagnosis of invasive cancer |
| Pathogenesis is closely associated with inflammation | Pathogenesis is closely associated with inflammation | |
| Final stage | Multiorgan complications | Distal metastases |
| Pharmacological aims in target cells | Pancreatic β-cells: oxidative stress (ROS), DNA damage, and apoptosis | Malignant cells: oxidative stress (ROS), DNA damage, and apoptosis |
| Treatment options | No curative treatment options were still available. Dietary modification, oral hypoglycemics, and insulin (i.e., drugs lowering blood glucose level). No therapies discovered to prevent diabetic complications | No curative treatment options were still available. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy (i.e., strategies suppressing the primary tumors). No therapies discovered to prevent the formation of metastases |
| Importance of natural products in drug discovery | The first-line used drug, metformin, was originally derived from French lilac. Acarbose isolated from Actinomycetes species | More than 60% of approved drugs are originally derived from different natural products, such as various plant extracts, marine organisms, and microorganisms |
ROS: reactive oxygen species; T2DM: type 2 diabetes mellitus
