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Metformin and blood cancers

Ademar Dantas Cunha Júnior1, Fernando Vieira Pericole1, Jose Barreto Campello Carvalheira1

  • 1Departamento de Medicina Interna, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Sao Paulo, SP, BR.

Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
|September 13, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Metformin, a type 2 diabetes drug, shows promise in treating blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. Research explores how it impacts insulin signaling in cancer and diabetes.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Endocrinology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Type 2 diabetes mellitus and cancer share altered insulin signaling pathways.
  • Metformin enhances insulin signaling, a pathway often dysregulated in cancer.
  • Cancer therapies can inhibit insulin signaling, impacting diabetes treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review metformin's anticancer activities in hematologic malignancies.
  • To explore the mechanisms underlying metformin's effects on cancer growth and insulin sensitivity.
  • To summarize findings from preclinical and ongoing clinical studies.

Main Methods:

  • Review of preclinical studies on metformin's anticancer effects.
  • Analysis of ongoing clinical trials investigating metformin in cancer.
  • Examination of epidemiological data linking body mass index to hematologic cancer incidence.

Main Results:

  • Metformin demonstrates therapeutic potential in leukemia, lymphomas, and multiple myeloma.
  • Body mass index is moderately correlated with the incidence of multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
  • Metformin's modulation of cancer growth and insulin sensitivity is under extensive clinical investigation.

Conclusions:

  • Metformin exhibits significant anticancer properties in hematologic malignancies.
  • Understanding the interplay between insulin signaling, diabetes, and cancer is crucial for therapeutic development.
  • Further research is warranted to fully elucidate metformin's role in cancer therapy.

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