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Diabetes Drug Tests Raise Hopes of Cancer Aid

Posted on: Friday, 22 April 2005, 09:00 CDT

A DRUG commonly used to treat diabetes could help prevent cancer tumours, according to research in Scotland.

Tests by Dundee University scientists suggest people with type 2 diabetes who take metformin may reduce the risk of developing cancer by 25-per cent.

They compared diabetic patients with and without cancer to see how many had been treated with metformin, and found that people with type 2 diabetes who do not have cancer are more likely to have been taking the drug.

The drug is thought to work by "switching on" an enzyme, AMPK, in the body which is thought to inhibit cancer cell growth. A large- scale study to verify the results will begin soon. If confirmed, the researchers believe it could yield major benefits as the drug is already on the market, cutting out 10 to 15 years of testing usually associated with a medical breakthrough.

One researcher, Professor Andrew Morris, Scotland's leading clinician on diabetes, said metformin has been used in the UK since 1957 but "it is only recently that we have learnt how it works. The possibility that it may have beneficial effects beyond diabetes control is very exciting indeed."

Source: Herald, The; Glasgow (UK)

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