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Metformin and cancer: An existing drug for cancer prevention and therapy (Review)

  • Authors:
    • Fuming Zi
    • Huapu Zi
    • Yi Li
    • Jingsong He
    • Qingzhi Shi
    • Zhen Cai

  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: November 14, 2017     https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.7412
  • Pages: 683-690

  • Copyright: © Zi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Metformin is a standard clinical drug used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and polycystic ovary syndrome. Recently, epidemiological studies and meta‑analyses have revealed that patients with T2DM have a lower incidence of tumor development than healthy controls and that patients diagnosed with cancer have a lower risk of mortality when treated with metformin, demonstrating an association between metformin and tumorigenesis. In vivo and in vitro studies have revealed that metformin has a direct antitumor effect, which may depress tumor proliferation and induce the apoptosis, autophagy and cell cycle arrest of tumor cells. The mechanism underpinning the antitumor effect of metformin has not been well established. Studies have demonstrated that reducing insulin and insulin‑like growth factor levels in the peripheral blood circulation may lead to the inhibition of phosphoinositide 3‑kinase/Akt/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling or activation of AMP‑activated protein kinase, which inhibits mTOR signaling, a process that may be associated with the antitumor effect of metformin. The present review primarily focuses on the recent progress in understanding the function of metformin in tumor development.
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January-2018
Volume 15 Issue 1

Print ISSN: 1792-1074
Online ISSN:1792-1082

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  • CiteScore: 6.3
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  • Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): 0.725
  • SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): 0.639
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Spandidos Publications style
Zi F, Zi H, Li Y, He J, Shi Q and Cai Z: Metformin and cancer: An existing drug for cancer prevention and therapy (Review). Oncol Lett 15: 683-690, 2018
APA
Zi, F., Zi, H., Li, Y., He, J., Shi, Q., & Cai, Z. (2018). Metformin and cancer: An existing drug for cancer prevention and therapy (Review). Oncology Letters, 15, 683-690. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.7412
MLA
Zi, F., Zi, H., Li, Y., He, J., Shi, Q., Cai, Z."Metformin and cancer: An existing drug for cancer prevention and therapy (Review)". Oncology Letters 15.1 (2018): 683-690.
Chicago
Zi, F., Zi, H., Li, Y., He, J., Shi, Q., Cai, Z."Metformin and cancer: An existing drug for cancer prevention and therapy (Review)". Oncology Letters 15, no. 1 (2018): 683-690. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.7412