Metformin, a diabetes drug, shows promise in reducing risk of cancer

An inexpensive drug that treats type-2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a study by a Michigan State University researcher which appears in the current issue of PloS One (Public Library of Science).

The research, led by pediatrics professor James Trosko and colleagues from South Korea's Seoul National University, provides biological evidence for previously reported epidemiological surveys that long-term use of the drug metformin, which is used for type-2 diabetes, reduces the risk of diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast cancers.

"People with type-2 diabetes are known to be at high risk for several diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast, liver and pancreatic cancers," said Prof Trosko, of the College of Human Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, noting that, "while metformin has been shown in population studies to reduce the risk of these cancers, there was no evidence of how it worked."