The prognostic role of diabetes mellitus type 2 in the setting of hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: To evaluate the effect of diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) on the outcomes after treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). ----- Methods: PubMed and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials Databases were systematically searched. Three HCC clinical outcomes were explored: death, progressive disease after locoregional therapies, and recurrence. Sub-analysis was performed according to the use of potentially curative (resection, transplantation, termo-ablation) or non-curative therapies. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to compare the pooled data between T2DM and non-T2DM groups. ----- Results: A total of 27 studies were analyzed. Overall, 85.2% of articles were from Asia. T2MD was associated with an increased risk of death (OR 3.60; 95%CI 2.18-5.95; P