Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Metformin: new agent against TNBC?

The diabetes drug Metformin can effectively reduce breast cancer risk that is associated with insulin resistance and was directly correlated with Ki67 status, according to research in the British Journal of Cancer.  TNBC has shown links to insulin resistance in previous studies, and many TNBC tumors are positive for Ki67, so this could be additional support for considering metformin as a treatment for TNBC.  

This was a phase II study at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan, Italy on 100 patients with stage I–IIIa breast cancer who were candidates for elective surgery.

In 2011 laboratory study, Metformin also showed effectiveness against hormone-negative breast cancer.

• Read more about Metformin and TNBC in my book, Surviving Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

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1 comment:

Charleen said...

I believe there are a couple of clinical trials looking into this. My oncologist wanted me to get into one, but "unfortunately" I was ineligible because I became diabetic from the steroids while on chemo. So, I get the Metformin without the clinical trial - and hopefully the benefits of it! Thank you for posting such interesting stuff.