Not breast cancer, but a study on Metformin and prostate cancer.

Metformin appeared to slow prostate cancer growth: study

Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

06-26-12

Metformin may lower cancer risk in people with Type 2 diabetes: study

WASHINGTON, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The commonly prescribed diabetes drug metformin reduces the overall cancer risk in people with Type 2 diabetes, according to a large review study presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

"Type 2 diabetes increases the risk for several types of cancer, " said lead author Diego Espinoza-Peralta, an endocrinologist with Mexico's National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City. "Our findings suggest that the regular use of metformin -- a low-cost medication -- reduces this risk, compared with not taking metformin."

Espinoza-Peralta and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of reported studies that evaluated cancer risk in patients with Type 2 diabetes. They analyzed seven relevant studies that included more than 32,400 Type 2 diabetic patients who had no other known condition that increased their cancer risk.

The investigators found that the odds of getting any type of cancer was 38 percent less with daily continuous use of metformin than for those with no exposure to metformin. This risk reduction extended to certain types of cancers, specifically colon and breast cancer, which are among the cancers that studies have found to occur more often in people with Type 2 diabetes. There was no risk reduction, however, in pancreatic cancer, another type of cancer for which people with Type 2 diabetes are at increased risk.

Metformin, which is the standard recommended initial treatment of Type 2 diabetes, may protect against cancer because it regulates activity of an enzyme that suppresses cell growth, according to Espinoza-Peralta.

(c) 2012 Xinhua News Agency - CEIS. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

Copyright Xinhua News Agency - CEIS 2012

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Common diabetes drug may fight breast cancer

10-10-12

Oct. 10--As a medical oncologist, Dr. Mark Kozloff has been taking care of people with cancer for more than 35 years. He is medical director of oncology for Ingalls Health System and a clinical associate professor at University of Chicago Medicine focused on attacking the disease while helping patients live as normal and productive lives as possible.

But another big part of his mission is research. Currently, Ingalls is one of a handful of Illinois hospitals participating in a large-scale clinical trial to determine whether a common and inexpensive diabetes drug, metformin, may be the next new weapon in the fight against breast cancer.

Findings from the five-year study, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, could be available in 2016, according to Bloomberg News. We talked to Kozloff about his work.

Q: Metformin is taken daily by millions of Americans to help them control their blood sugar. How did it come to be connected to breast cancer?

A: In the past, researchers have found that diabetics taking metformin were less likely to develop cancer. There's no study proving it ... so this study would make a more definitive statement on the benefits of the drug ... but more studies would be needed.

Q: Who is eligible for the study?

A: Nondiabetic women younger than 75 who have been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in the last 12 months. A woman would be randomly assigned metformin or a placebo ... the doctor doesn't choose. A patient can still be on standard treatment -- like radiation -- while participating in the trial.

Q: In layman's terms, can you explain how it might work?

A: Another earlier study showed that diabetics with breast cancer responded more favorably to breast cancer therapies given before surgery. The researchers think (metformin) might act against breast cancer by working directly on the cancer cells -- that by lowering insulin levels you decrease enzymes in the cell, which, in turn, decrease growth and proliferation of the breast cancer cells.

That's where almost all the research is right now ... finding something abnormal about the cancer cells, then target that abnormality, to increase benefits and decrease the toxicity. At Ingalls, we're involved in more than 40 studies that specifically look at what's different about the cancer cell vs. the normal cell -- then target that abnormality with treatment. The researchers think it might act against breast cancer by working directly on the cancer cells -- that by lowering insulin levels you decrease enzymes in the cell, which, in turn, decrease growth and proliferation of the breast cancer cells.

Q: Do you find it incredible that something so common and cheap could be the key to a big breakthrough?

A: I would not want to mislead by saying this is a "big breakthrough" or a "cure" for breast cancer. But it is a very exciting new idea that may be promising in the prevention of breast cancer recurrence.

Q: I've read that metformin research was hampered by a lack of money for clinical trials -- that pharmaceutical companies have little financial incentive to fund or conduct studies on generics like metformin. Your thoughts?

A: There's no question that funding has taken a hit ... certainly, the contracting economy has played a part but we also need to spend our money more wisely. We all know that cancer treatment can be costly. Any time we can find an intervention or therapy to help prevent the cancer from recurring not only benefits the individual but also helps to decrease the cost of health care overall. That is why the cost of doing these research studies could potentially be well worth the investment

Q: If you've received a cancer diagnosis, who is a candidate for a clinical trial? Some people think it's only for those at end stage.

A: Clinical trials are a treatment option and can vary from the earliest stages to later. Trials are very thoughtfully conceived and aimed at helping people do better, increase cure rates and help find new drugs. They're always done with the knowledge that the potential benefits will outweigh the potential side effects.

Q: I am sure people think your work is sad. What would you want them to know?

A: To watch a drug help someone significantly and do well over time, there's nothing finer. I've seen young people get engaged ... raise families. It's very uplifting.

Q: How about when things don't go so well?

A: Even when the outcomes were horrible, I've had families write letters and say the nicest things ... and that's very positive reinforcement because it can become depressing. But if you can help someone live longer and better, you can walk away with your head held high.

Use of Metformin - commonly used as the front-line treatment for type 2 diabetes - improves survival for some breast cancer patients, and shows promise as a treatment for patients diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia, according to the results of two new studies presented by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

In one study (abstract 1569), the first to examine the effect of metformin on survival rates for breast cancer patients, researchers examined clinical outcomes for 1,215 patients who were diagnosed and underwent surgical treatment for breast cancer between 1997 and 2013. Ninety-seven patients examined reported using metformin before their diagnosis, and 97 reported use of the drug after diagnosis.

Results of the study showed that patients who used metformin before being diagnosed with breast cancer were more than twice as likely to die than patients who never used the drug, while patients who began using metformin after their cancerdiagnosis were almost 50 percent more likely to survive than non-users.

"Using metformin as a cancer prevention strategy has been controversial and results have been inconsistent, but our analysis reveals that use of the drug is time-dependent, which may explain the disparity. While use of the drug may have a survival benefit for some breast cancer patients, those who developed breast cancer while already using Metformin may have more aggressive cancer subtypes," said lead author Yun Rose Li, MD, PhD, a clinical research fellow in the division of Endocrine and Oncologic Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who will present the results. "Our study also illustrates the complex interaction between underlying metabolic risks and breast cancer outcomes, and underscore the importance of a multi-system approach to cancer treatment."

Additional results of the study showed that patients who used metformin were more likely to be over the age of 50 at diagnosis and to be African-American. While tumor size and disease progression were similar across all groups, the patients who began using the drug after their diagnosis were more likely to have ER/PR positive tumors while the patients who used it prior to their diagnosis had higher rates of Her2+ and Triple Negative tumors.

Since this work is among the first to examine the effects of long-standing metformin use in the context of when patients start using it as it relates to breast cancer diagnosis, the authors say that further investigations are necessary to examine the impact of metformin use on cancer recurrence. Nonetheless, the authors say there is compelling biological evidence suggesting that the differences observed in breast cancer tumor markers may be due to mechanistic differences in cancer initiation in patients who develop cancer while taking metformin.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/310768.php