Study director Dr. Anushka Patel from The George Institute, in a statement e-mailed to Reuters, said the Advance study results were more than 99 percent complete.
"We are confident that the interim findings communicated here are a reliable guide to the final results," Patel said.
The 10,251-patient Accord trial, led and organized by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, involved older adults with an average age of 62 who had type 2 diabetes for more than 10 years.
Patients in one group were given aggressive treatment to lower their blood sugar levels -- a measure known as hemoglobin A1c -- to below 6 percent, far below the current target of under 7 percent and closer to what is seen in non-diabetics.
These patients died at a higher rate than a second group whose A1c levels were kept to the 7 to 7.9 percent range.
Patients in the Advance study were aiming for a slightly higher A1c treatment goal of below 6.5 percent.
It was not clear whether the patients in both trials were taking the same drugs to lower their blood sugar.
