Systemic hypertension and diabetes mellitus as predictors of malignancy among women with endometrial polyps: a meta-analysis of observational studies

Abstract Objective: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and systemic hypertension (SH) are frequent benign diseases which might coexist with endometrial polyps. We sought to evaluate whether women who suffer from these diseases have an increased incidence of premalignant and malignant lesions. Methods: We systematically searched the literature using the Medline (by using Pubmed) (1966-2015), Scopus (2004-2015), ClinicalTrials.gov (2008-2015), Cochrane Central Register (CENTRAL), and Google Scholar (2004-2015) databases along with the references of all articles which were retrieved in full text. We performed the meta-analysis with the RevMan 5.1 software. Results: Both DM and SH seem to be correlated with increased odds of developing premalignant and malignant endometrial polyps (odds ratio 2.43, 95% confidence interval 1.51, 3.91) and (odds ratio 2.36, 95% confidence interval 1.16, 4.81). However, it remains unclear whether type I or type II DM exert a more pronounced effect and whether the severity of SH has an impact on these odds. Also, the potential relation of antidiabetic and antihypertensive treatment with these lesions cannot be excluded. Conclusions: Physicians should increase their awareness among women with endometrial polyps who suffer from DM and/or SH. Further studies are needed to corroborate our findings and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of this relation.