Scientists from the University of Texas found that metformin, a widely used antidiabetic drug, can reduce the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 62 percent. The study appears in the August 1 issue of Gastroenterology.
Previous studies show that antidiabetic drugs have various effects on cancer. To find out the association of these drugs to cancer, Donghui Li, Ph.D., professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, and her colleagues, carried out a hospital-based study involving patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Investigators enrolled 973 patients who were treated at M. D. Anderson between 2004 and 2008. The control group consisted of 863 cancer-free individuals. Among the participants, 259 of the cancer patients and 109 controls were diabetics.
The groups were matched by age, race and sex. Information such as smoking history, family history of cancer, alcohol use and body mass index were gathered using a detailed questionnaire. Diabetics were asked about their medication history and they were grouped according to the type of anti-diabetes drug they were taking: insulin or insulin secretagogues; metformin; TZDs (thiazolidinediones) and other common diabetes drugs.
The investigators found that diabetics who took metformin either alone or in any combination with other diabetic medicines had a 62 percent reduction of risk of developing pancreatic cancer, compared to those who did not take the drug. Metformin’s protective effect remained substantial in participants who had diabetes for more than two years and those who never used insulin. In addition, risk factors that are commonly associated with diabetes: smoking, obesity and poor glycemic control, did not appear to affect the relationship between metformin intake and pancreatic cancer risk.
On the other hand, the diabetics who took insulin were almost 5 times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than those who had never used insulin. Likewise, participants who used insulin secretagogues, had a 2.52-fold risk of pancreatic cancer compared with those who did not take the drugs.
Metformin is frequently prescribed as a first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes. It works by increasing cell’s sensitivity to insulin and at the same time, it decreases the amount of insulin circulating in the body. Dr Li explained that Metformin activates AMP kinase, an enzyme thought to play an important part in the development of cancer by controlling cell division and growth.
Pancreatic cancer claims more than 200,000 lives each year. It is the 6th leading cause of cancer deaths in Europe. The American Cancer Society estimates that 42,470 new cases will be diagnosed 35,240 will likely die from the disease.
According to Dr Li, their findings offer an exciting direction for future research on chemoprevention. If the protective effects of metformin would be confirmed by larger research sample, then this old-reliable drug may be recommended as a primary prevention of pancreatic cancer for type 2 diabetics.
References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7862618
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7503/1304
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=155118
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15238885
http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085%2809%2900555-1/fulltext
Photo credit: Bruce Bartlett
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Tags: antidiabetic, Diabetes, diabetes drugs, insulin, metformin, pancreatic cancer, type 2 diabetes
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