The latest clinical outcomes from the largest and longest follow-up to the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) study will be presented during the Virtual 80th Scientific Sessions. The two-hour symposium, New Data on Clinical Outcomes from the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS), will begin at 8:00 a.m. CT Tuesday, June 16.

Currently, 110 million to 120 million people in the United States have either type 2 diabetes or are at risk of developing the disease, according to DPPOS Chair David M. Nathan, MD, Director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“That’s a third of the nation’s population, so clearly understanding what the consequences are of these conditions or disease states is critical,” Dr. Nathan said. “This understanding will help us focus the dollars that we spend. And if we can more clearly differentiate groups that are at risk with groups that are not at risk, it will help us target interventions.”

Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, DPP was conducted from 1996 to 2001 at 25 centers across the U.S. and examined the effect of intensive lifestyle changes and metformin on the development of type 2 diabetes in a diverse, high-risk population. It showed that lifestyle changes reduced diabetes onset by 58% and metformin reduced diabetes onset by 31%.

DPPOS, which began in 2002, continues to follow most of the DPP cohort to determine whether the relatively short-term benefits of delaying diabetes demonstrated in the DPP translate to long-term benefits. Roughly 88% of the eligible surviving DPP participants are enrolled in DPPOS.

The virtual presentation at the Scientific Sessions will feature researchers who have been involved with DPPOS since at least 2012, as well as study leaders who have directed DPP since its inception in 1996.

“We will look not only at the benefits and risks of the specific interventions that were used during the DPP, but we’ll also examine what are the consequences of preventing diabetes,” Dr. Nathan said. “Specifically, when patients develop diabetes, what are the risks, what are the complications and disease states that they develop compared with preventing the development of diabetes?”

The current phase of DPPOS is scheduled to run through 2021 and is examining the long-term effects of metformin on cardiovascular disease and cancer outcomes, which will be reported during the session. DPPOS investigators are also studying the consequences of diabetes on aging, including cognitive and physical dysfunction and frailty. The average age in the DPPOS cohort is 72.

“We owe our success to the remarkably consistent support over many years from the participants and our sponsors,” Dr. Nathan said. “And we don’t think that the story is fully told yet. We can learn more from this population.”