But the latest research has convinced Pollack and some others that cancer treatment should be taken off the list.
Further research is underway, but there is no evidence
One of the first hints linking metformin to anti-cancer effects was published in a short note in the British Medical Journal in 2005. Researchers analyzed the medical records of around 12,000 people in the Tayside region of Scotland who were newly diagnosed with diabetes between 1993 and 2001. , more than 900 people developed cancer. Interestingly, those who took metformin at some point during the study 23% less likely He was subsequently diagnosed with cancer.
This discovery encouraged further research Diabetics taking metformin and the risk of breast, liver, ovarian, endometrial, and other types of cancer. The authors of a 2013 analysis that, like the original, included more than 1 million patients in 41 observational studies, concluded that metforminmay be related Cancer risk is significantly reduced. ”But such an association is not evidence.
Researchers continue to study the relationship between dishes and laboratory animal cells, and find that metformin slowing growth Tests for cancer cells in the blood, breast, endometrium, lung, liver, stomach, and thyroid. It also appears to make cancer cells very sensitive to chemotherapy drugs. In one mouse study, scientists transplanted human breast, prostate, or lung cancer cells into animals and treated them with standard chemotherapy drugs, metformin, or a combination of both. combination It worked bestprevent tumor growth and prolong recurrence.
These findings were meaningful to researchers. Metformin treats metabolic problems diabetesand cancer is also thought to be related to metabolic problems obesity etc.. Even before the 2005 British Medical Journal study, Goodwin had noticed that breast cancer patients with high insulin levels had worse outcomes than those with normal insulin levels.
With that logic and promising data, scientists Conduct numerous randomized controlled trials—The gold standard experiment in medicine. Researchers enroll cancer patients and divide them into two groups. One group will receive metformin in addition to standard cancer treatment. The other group will receive standard treatment plus a placebo, a pill containing no drug.
