A lifesaver with a catch: Powerful new cancer drugs can trigger diabetes — and no one is certain why
A lifesaver with a catch: Powerful new cancer drugs can trigger diabetes — and no one is certain why.
The first two rounds of treatment went off without a hitch. But last November, after receiving a third dose of potent immunotherapy for his skin cancer, Rich Lenihan started to feel tired and weak.
He was urinating constantly, and no amount of water could abate his thirst. A blood test revealed glucose levels that were through the roof.
Lenihan, at age 62, had developed a disease akin to type 1 diabetes — formerly called “juvenile” diabetes — a rare complication of drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors that rev up the body’s immune assault on tumor tissue.
“The good news is we know what’s wrong with you,” Lenihan recalled his doctors telling him — as they whisked him off to the ICU.
The bad news: He would need to control his
